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THE  THIRD  FRENCH  REPUBLIC 


PRESIDENT     FALLIERES 
From  a  Photograph  by  EUG.    PIROl" 


THE   THIRD 
FRENCH    REPUBLIC 


BY 

FREDERICK    LAWTON,    M.A. 

AUTHOR   OF    "THE    LIFE   OF    RODIN" 


WITH     THIRTY-TWO     ILLUSTRATIONS 


PHILADELPHIA 
J.    B.    LIPPINCOTT   COMPANY 

LONDON  :  GRANT  RICHARDS 
1909 


PRINTED   BY 

WILLIAM   BRENDON   AND  SON,    LTD 

PLYMOUTH,    ENGLAND 


DEDICATED 

WITH  FEELINGS  OF  SINCERE  ESTEEM 

TO 

SIR   HENRY   AUSTIN   LEE,  K.C.M.G. 

^(Commercial  Attache  to  the  British  Embassy  in  Paris) 

IN    GRATEFUL    ACKNOWLEDGSIENT    OF 
MANY    SERVICES    RENDERED 


PREFACE 

In  the  following  pages  I  have  tried  to  give  an  his- 
torical, and,  to  some  extent,  an  anecdotal  narration  of 
the  Third  Republic's  progress  from  the  end  of  May 
1871  up  to  the  year  1908.  The  great  conflict  accom- 
panying the  birth  of  the  Republic  was  practically 
finished  before  its  separate  existence  began.  Virtually, 
the  Commune  belongs  to  the  Republic ;  but  it  is 
historically  connected  rather  with  the  Siege  of  Paris 
and  the  war ;  and  a  whole  volume  would  be  required 
to  relate  these  origins  adequately.  In  a  first  separate 
chapter,  therefore,  I  have  told  about  them  just  enough 
for  any  allusions  in  the  sequel  to  be  understood. 

Of  many  things  that  will  be  found  in  the  second  half 
of  the  book,  I  write  from  personal  experience.  Having 
lived  for  the  last  twenty  years  in  France,  where  indeed  I 
have  been  privileged  to  make  the  acquaintance  of  some 
of  her  citizens  eminent  in  politics,  literature,  and  art,  I 
have  learned  to  appreciate  the  various  admirable  quali- 
ties of  the  French  race.  To  any  fair-minded  observer 
it  is  evident  that  France  is  evolving  as  a  nation.  With 
a  good  headway  to  make  up  in  certain  of  her  institu- 
tions, owing  to  the  vicissitudes  through  which  she  has 
passed  in  the  last  hundred  years,  she  holds  her  own  in 
the  vanguard  of  European  peoples  both  by  the  bold- 
ness of  her  conceptions  and  the  ingenuity  of  her  inven- 


8  PREFACE 

tion.  Shaken  loose  by  hard  circumstance  from  some 
of  the  old  doctrines  still  prevailing  in  neighbouring 
lands,  she  is  resolutely  essaying  new  paths  towards  the 
ideal  commonwealth  that  all  countries  fain  would  reach. 
And,  though  the  goal  has  not  yet  been  attained,  at 
least  sufficient  has  been  done  to  prove  that  she  is  great 
in  peace,  as  she  has  been  great  in  war. 


CONTENTS 


I.  Introduction 

II.  The  War  and  the  Commune 

III.  The  Presidency  of  Thiers 

IV.  The  Presidency  of  MacMahon 
V.  The  Presidency  of  Jules  Grevy 

VI.  The  Presidency  of  Carnot 

VII.  The  Presidencies  of  Casimir  Perier  and  Felix  Faure 

VIII.  The  Presidencies  of  Loubet  and  Fallieres 

IX.  Literature,  Science  and  Art  in  the  Seventies 

X.  Literature,  Science  and  Art  in  the  Eighties 

XI.  Literature,  Science  and  Art  in  the  Nineties 

XII.  Literature,  Science  and  Art  since  1900 

XIII.  Paris  .... 

XIV.  The  Mutualist  Movement 
XV.  Education    .... 

XVI.  The  Parliamentary  System 

XVII.  Conclusion 

Index  .... 


13 

19 

39 

61 

87 

116 

157 

187 

223 

251 

269 

284 

300 

318 

330 

349 

361 

381 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 


President  Fallieres 

Triumph  of  the  Republic 

Paris  in  1870 

President  Thiers 

Quai  Malaquais 

President  MacMahon 

Opening  of  New  Opera 

President  Grew 

Port  of  Bordeaux 

Victor  Hugo    . 

President  Carnot 

Exhibition  of   1889 

Clemenceau 

President  Casimir   Perier 

President  Felix  Faure 

The  Tuileries 

President  Loubet     . 

Exhibition  of  1900  . 

Moulin  de  la  Galette 

Alphonse  Daudet     . 

Pasteur 

Anatole  France 

Dumas,  fils 

Rejane 

Rodin 

Gounod 

Moulin  Rouge 

puvis  de  chavannes 

Jean-Paul  Laurens 

Berthelot 

Rouen  Cathedral     . 

La  Greve  des  Mineurs 


from  a  photograph 

Frontispiece 

by  Dalou 

Page 

12 

by  Meissonier 

» 

24 

after  Mine,  de  Mirbel 

}) 

36 

by  Renoir 

:) 

48 

from  a  photograph 

}) 

60 

by  Detaille 

}) 

72 

from  a  photograph 

}} 

86 

by  Manet 

}> 

96 

by  Rodin 

» 

106 

from  a  photograph 

)} 

116 

by  Roll 

}> 

128 

by  Rqffaelti  . 

>} 

138 

from  a  photograph 

» 

150 

from  a  photograph 

» 

162 

by  Pissarro    . 

>> 

174 

from  a  photograph 

)> 

186 

from  a  photograph 

)} 

196 

by  Renoir 

>> 

208 

by  Carrier e     . 

» 

230 

from  a  photograph 

)} 

240 

by  Woog 

}> 

250 

by  Meissonier 

}> 

260 

by  Matthes     . 

>} 

272 

by  Blanche 

•              >> 

282 

by  Ingres 

>> 

292 

by  de  Toulouse  Lautrec 

•              » 

306 

by  Rodin 

}) 

316 

by  Rodin 

'              » 

328 

jrom  a  photograph 

)} 

340 

by  Monet 

)> 

354 

by  Roll 

•              }> 

368 

I 

INTRODUCTION 

The  Third  Republic  is  the  child  of  the  Second  and  the 
grandchild  of  the  First.  There  is  an  organic  relation- 
ship between  them  which  makes  them  in  reality  one. 

Taking  it  all  in  all,  the  history  of  the  three  might  be 
summed  up  as  the  education  of  the  democracy.  The 
rest  is  mere  detail.  No  sooner  had  the  Great  Revolu- 
tion overthrown  the  Monarchy  than  Talleyrand  pro- 
posed to  establish  an  elementary  school  in  each 
commune.  The  essential  was  to  begin  with  the 
infant  intelligence  and  create  a  national  thinking  mind. 
This  the  bishops  fought  against.  It  meant  that  the 
people  would  be  their  judges.  Fontanes  took  up  the 
matter  again  in  the  reign  of  Xapoleon  I ;  but  the 
Emperor  had  more  pressing  cares  to  attend  to,  so  that 
the  efforts  of  the  first  Grand  Master  of  the  University 
were  abortive.  The  Restoration  came,  and  still  the 
education  of  the  masses  was  neglected,  though  Cuvier, 
Royer-Collard  and  Frayssinous,  strove  for  it.  Not 
until  1833,  in  Louis  -  Philippe's  reign,  did  Guizot 
manage  to  commence  the  work,  amidst  many  draw- 
backs. These  latter  rendered  progress  slow  even 
under  the  Second  Empire  ;  but  a  wider-reading  and 
reflecting  public  was  formed  in  the  middle  of  the 
century  ;  and  the  histories  of  Tocqueville  and  Michelet, 
the  poetry  of  Victor  Hugo,  Lamartine  and  de  Musset, 


14       THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

the  novels  of  Hugo,  George  Sand,  Balzac  and  Dumas,  the 
philosophy  of  Comte  and  Taine  were  eagerly  absorbed. 
This  change  enabled  the  leading  spirits  of  France  to 
appeal  among  their  countrymen  to  something  besides 
impulse  and  passion — a  fact  that  Napoleon  III  was 
obliged  to  count  with. 

In  spite  of  his  coup  d'etat,  Louis  -  Napoleon  was 
more  of  a  president  than  an  emperor.  Though  he 
had  played  the  role  of  a  dictator,  he  never  forgot  that 
his  tenor  of  power  was  dependent  on  the  people's 
will.  From  the  commencement,  universal  suffrage  was 
the  basis  of  Parliamentary  representation ;  and,  be- 
tween 1860  and  1870,  his  absolutism  dwindled,  through 
the  transference  to  the  Legislative  Chamber  of  the 
authority  he  had  exercised  over  the  Cabinet  of 
Ministers.  Had  the  war  of  '70  not  broken  out,  or  had 
it  ended  differently,  the  probability  is  that  the  Empire 
would  have  become  a  strictly  constitutional  govern- 
ment similar  to  the  one  existing  in  England  and 
Republican  in  everything  but  the  name.  In  each 
public  department,  useful  institutions  were  being 
created  —  Savings  Banks,  Providence  Societies,  Or- 
phanages, Hospitals,  Workmen's  Banks.  Laws  regu- 
lating labour  and  Old  Age  Pensions  were  being 
discussed  ;  and  a  thorough  plan  of  public  works  was 
inaugurated,  intended  to  sweep  away  dirt  and  disease 
and  to  improve  the  sanitary  conditions  of  town  and 
rural  district.  In  these  reforms,  the  Emperor  had  his 
share  of  initiative ;  but  the  larger  merit  belonged  to 
the  enlightened  statesmen  around  him,  whose  action 
continued  when  he  disappeared. 

It  was,  perhaps,  unavoidable,  but  it  has  been  none 
the   less   prejudicial  to  the   country  that,   after   such 


sS 


- 

Photograph  :   Pierre  Petit 

MONUMENT:     "THE    TRIUMPH    OF    THE    REPUBLIC" 
Bv   DALOl' 


INTRODUCTION  15 

repeated  proofs  of  the  instability  of  monarchical  and 
imperial  regimes  in  France,  so  long  a  time  and  labour 
were  lost  in  disputing  the  Republic's  right  to  exist. 
Abroad,  a  feeling  of  distrust  was  aroused  ;  for  twenty 
years  nearly,  after  the  war,  France  remained  isolated  ; 
and  in  domestic  politics  this  barren  struggle  confounded 
the  whole  of  the  Rights  with  the  party  of  faction  and 
plotting.  Happily,  the  forces  of  Conservativism  have, 
at  length,  turned  to  more  feasible  tasks. 

The  history  of  the  last  forty  years  has  its  picturesque 
side.  A  line  of  seven  Presidents,  several  Royal  and 
other  Pretenders,  a  larger  number  of  Prime  and  other 
Ministers,  and  a  crowd  of  deputies  and  simple  citizens 
have  mingled  on  the  stage  of  public  life  and  gone 
through  their  roles,  some  ordinary,  some  extraordinary, 
some  exciting  and  palpitating,  in  the  various  dramas — 
comedy  or  tragedy — that  have  been  played.  Not  all 
the  acts  and  scenes  have  been  exhibitions  of  things 
pleasant  and  virtuous.  A  Republic  does  not  neces- 
sarily cure  men  of  their  egoisms.  But,  as  Octave 
Mirbeau  says :  "  What  are  our  vices,  our  corruptions, 
our  venality,  what  are  our  poor  little  Panamas,  com- 
pared with  the  vices,  corruptions,  embezzlements  and 
treasons  of  that  famous  Court  (of  Louis  XIV)  which 
is  still  held  out  to  us  as  the  model  of  honour,  patriot- 
ism, elegance  and  virtue  ?  Not  more  than  schoolboy 
pranks." 

While,  however,  these  outside  shows  have  captivated 
attention,  an  upheaval  of  the  masses  has  occurred, 
silently  for  the  most  part,  effected  through  the  ubi- 
quitous schoolmaster,  the  halfpenny  newspaper,  and 
military  service,  and  an  organized  democracy  stands  by 
the  side  of  the  bourgeoisie  and  the  mediatized   aris- 


16       THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

tocracy.  It  means  that  Socialism  is  again  to  the  front 
otherwise  prepared  and  armed  than  when  de  Falloux 
closed  the  national  workshops  after  the  Revolution  of 
1848.  Socialism  is  to-day  a  Government  platform. 
Socialistic  legislation  is  creeping  in  on  all  sides.  A 
Socialistic  State  may  very  well  be  the  order  of  things 
in  France  to-morrow.  If  so,  will  it  be  better  than  the 
condition  and  order  it  replaces  ? 

The  answer,  yes  or  no,  depends  less  on  the  particular 
form  of  society  adopted  than  on  the  power  and  will  of 
the  democracy  to  avoid  the  vice  of  all  past  regimes, 
that  of  permitting  one  class  to  tyrannize  over  another. 
If  Socialism,  collective  or  otherwise,  is  simply  to  be  the 
substitution  of  a  majority  privilege  for  a  minority  one, 
if  private  initiative  is  to  be  discouraged  and  the  greater 
effort  rewarded  only  by  an  increased  burden,  if  a  pro- 
gressive personal  freedom  for  each  individual  with 
advancing  age  cannot  be  secured,  and  if  every  man 
cannot  enjoy  without  let  or  hindrance  what  he  legiti- 
mately earns,  then  the  change  will  not  be  worth  the 
having. 

To  the  credit  of  the  democracy  and  the  Republic 
may  be,  meanwhile,  placed  a  beginning  of  decentraliza- 
tion, and  an  exercise  of  local  autonomy  that  would  make 
Richelieu,  Colbert  and  Louvois  turn  in  their  graves 
could  they  see  it.  Paris  is  no  longer  France.  The  rapid 
growth  of  industry  and  commerce  in  centres  other  than 
the  capital  has  endowed  them  with  a  political  importance 
and  influence  which  Parliament  could  not  avoid  recog- 
nizing.  Neither  the  provincial  press  nor  provincial 
university  and  other  educational  activities  depend  on 
Paris  in  the  way  they  used  to  ;  and  Mutualism,  a 
detailed  account  of  which  will  be  given  in  a  separate 


INTRODUCTION  17 

chapter,  is  a  striking  example  of  the  independent  rise 
of  a  multitude  of  local  self-governing  societies,  which 
have  formed  a  national  federation  without  loss  of 
prerogative. 

As  regards  the  duel  between  Church  and  State, 
which  has  been  fought  in  the  past  quarter  of  a  century, 
it  is  important  to  remember  that  the  Government's 
conduct  has  received  the  support  of  the  vast  majority 
of  the  population — a  population  at  least  by  tradition 
Catholic.  Not  suddenly,  or  in  a  hurry,  but  by  a  series 
of  legislative  acts  duly  elaborated,  and  in  spite  of  occult 
pressure  of  all  kinds,  the  nation  has  decided  strictly  to 
define  and  limit  the  influence  and  action  of  a  body  of 
men  who  have  sworn  supreme  obedience  to  an  authority 
outside  the  State.  Cries  of  oppression  have  gone  up 
from  Pope  and  clergy,  but  they  have  had  no  real  abiding 
echo  among  the  laity,  who,  judging  the  merits  of 
the  case  in  a  common-sense  manner,  see  that,  whereas 
the  Church  did  mean  and  try  to  kill  the  Republic,  the 
Republic  has  allowed  the  Church  to  live. 

In  French  history,  literature,  science  and  art  may 
claim  an  equal  rank  with  politics.  Since  1870,  the 
originality  and  achievement  of  the  Republic's  savants 
and  artists  have  not  been  surpassed  by  any  nation  in 
the  world.  In  literature  the  quality  has  somewhat 
suffered  from  the  quickness  of  production — and  this  is 
the  same  elsewhere.  Vet  a  goodly  number  of  authors 
whose  style  honours  the  French  tongue  have  not  been 
wanting  in  each  decade ;  and,  in  recent  poetry  especially, 
a  new  departure  has  been  made  from  which  a  good 
deal  may  be  expected. 

The  word  decadence  has  often  been  employed  by 
hasty  critics  in  speaking  against  the  French  nation — 


18      THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

against  what  old  nation  has  it  not  been  launched  in 
prophecy !  If  it  has  any  truth  in  their  mouths,  it 
means  only  that  there  are  morbid  elements  present  in 
the  national  life  which,  if  allowed  to  work  their  will, 
can  bring  about  dissolution.  This  may  be.  In  fact, 
such  morbid  elements  exist  in  countries  new,  as  well  as 
countries  old.  But  that  they  are  now  in  the  ascendant 
in  France  is  not  a  just  deduction  from  the  annals  of  the 
Third  Republic. 


II 

THE   WAR  AND  THE  COMMUNE 

Two  days  after  the  battle  of  Sedan,  Prosper  Merimee 
the  novelist,  who  was  an  intimate  friend  of  the  Imperial 
family,  presented  himself  at  the  house  of  Thiers  in  the 
Rue  Saint-Georges  to  invite  its  owner  to  form  a 
ministry  in  the  place  of  Count  Palikao,  who  had 
resigned.  Thiers  has  left  us  the  following  account  of 
the  interview : — 

""Monsieur  Merimee  was  dying.  He  was  a  most 
thorough  gentleman,  one  of  the  best  and  wittiest  I 
have  known.  Being  devoted  to  the  Empress,  he  gave 
her  good  advice. 

"  •  You  guess  why  I  have  come  ? '  he  said. 

"  '  Yes,  I  guess  ! ' 

"  '  Yrou  can  render  us  a  great  service.' 

" 'I  can  render  you  none  at  all.' 

" '  Yes,  you  can.  I  know  your  way  of  thinking. 
Dynasties  do  not  occupy  you.  Your  thoughts  are 
especially  turned  to  the  present  state  of  affairs.  Well ! 
The  Emperor  is  a  prisoner ;  there  remain  only  a  wife 
and  a  child.  What  an  opportunity  for  you  to  establish 
a  representative  government ! ' 

" '  After  Sedan,  there  is  nothing  to  be  done,  abso- 
lutely nothing."  " 

And  Merimee  was  obliged  to  go  away  unsatisfied. 
A  few  days  later  he  lay  dead  at  Cannes. 

'9 


20      THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

This  interview  took  place  on  the  3rd  of  September. 
On  the  morrow,  the  people  invaded  the  Legislative 
Chambers  and  pronounced  the  decheance  of  the  Im- 
perial Government.     Thiers  had  spoken  truly. 

No  modern  war  perhaps  has  been  more  tragically 
swift  and  overwhelming  than  that  of  1870.  It  was 
declared  on  the  19th  July. 

1  To  Berlin ! '  was  the  cry  that  hailed  the  regi- 
ments hurrying  through  Paris  on  their  way  to  the 
frontier.  In  the  theatres,  the  Marseillaise  was  sung 
amidst  acclamations.  At  the  Opera,  where  La 
Muettc  was  being  performed,  the  national  anthem 
was  called  for  after  the  air :  Amour  Sacre  de  la 
Patrie ;  and  Emile  de  Girardin,  the  editor  of  the 
Liberte,  leaning  over  the  front  of  his  box,  summoned 
the  audience  to  stand.  The  whole  assembly  obeyed. 
In  the  papers,  a  rich  citizen,  and  one  by  no  means 
excitable  as  a  rule,  offered  to  bet  two  hundred  thousand 
francs  that  the  French  would  enter  the  Prussian  capital 
before  the  15th  of  August.  Such  was  the  enthusiasm 
of  the  bulk  of  the  population. 

And  the  bulk  of  the  population  at  the  time  were 
Imperialists.  They  believed  in  Louis  Napoleon,  who 
had  given  them  much  material  prosperity  in  his  eigh- 
teen years'  reign  and  seemed  to  be  inclining  more  to  a 
constitutional  policy.  True,  there  was  his  unfortunate 
Mexican  campaign  ;  but  over  against  it  were  the  mili- 
tary glories  of  the  Crimea,  of  Magenta  and  Solferino  ; 
and  the  conquest  of  Cochin-China  had  added  another 
territory  to  the  country's  colonial  possessions. 

Unfortunately,  the  Emperor's  coup  d'etat  was  a  deed 
that  the  Republican  party  had  never  pardoned.  And 
their  representatives  in  Parliament  had  grown,  between 


THE   WAR   AND   THE   COMMUNE       21 

1857  and  1869,  from  five  to  fifty.  Among  them  were 
Jules  Ferry,  Jules  Grevy,  Jules  Simon,  Jules  Favre, 
Carnot  and  Gambetta,  all  men  of  talent.  Outside  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies,  there  were  other  leaders  of 
influence  who  had  not  forgotten  the  Republic  of  1848, 
and  were  ready  to  take  advantage  of  any  faults  of  the 
Imperial  Administration  and  to  stir  up  Paris — Paris 
which  had  always  been  restive  under  the  yoke  of 
Governmental  restraint,  always  in  the  van  of  the 
march  of  ideas. 

It  was  to  the  merit  of  the  Republicans  and  some 
Liberals  in  Parliament  that  they  voted  against  the 
war. 

'Careful  of  my  reputation/  said  Monsieur  Thiers, 
1 1  would  not  have  any  one  say  I  took  on  me  the 
responsibility  for  a  war  based  on  such  motives.' 

It  may  also  be  said  in  excuse  of  the  Emperor  that 
his  hand  was  forced  by  his  Ministers.  Though  not 
fully  aware  of  the  enemy's  strength,  he  knew  that 
his  own  forces  were  not  sufficiently  prepared  for  the 
struggle. 

This  knowledge,  however,  was  possessed  only  by  few. 
And  those  who  ventured  to  express  their  doubts  were 
looked  on  as  bad  patriots,  and  even  as  spies.  In  the 
streets  they  risked  being  lynched.  On  the  boulevards 
and  in  other  public  resorts,  the  wildest  tales  were 
credited.  The  first  reverses  were  thought  to  be  false 
until  doubt  as  to  their  character  was  no  longer  per- 
missible ;  and,  like  successive  thunderbolts,  were 
announced  the  disasters  of  Wissembourg,  Froesch- 
willer,  Forbach,  Borny.  Rezonville,  Gravelotte,  Saint- 
Privat.  Sedan. 

Afterwards  came  the  advance  on  Paris,  as  rapid  in  its 


22       THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

progress  as  the  series  of  previous  defeats.  On  the  9th 
of  September  the  enemy's  troops  were  at  Laon  and 
Montmirail ;  on  the  11th,  at  Meaux ;  on  the  15th,  at 
Corbeil.  On  the  17th,  the  last  train  leaving  Paris  was 
attacked  near  Choisy  and  every  route  was  captured. 
The  situation  was  growing  desperate ;  but  still  people 
could  not  believe  the  capital  would  be  invested.  They 
asserted  that  at  least  a  million  and  a  half  of  men  would 
be  required  to  blockade  the  city  on  every  side.  But, 
even  while  they  were  discussing,  the  walls  were  being 
surrounded,  and  the  battle  of  Chatillon  destroyed  their 
last  illusion.  On  the  19th  of  September,  just  two 
months  after  war  had  been  declared,  the  whole  of  the 
railway  lines  connecting  Paris  with  the  outside  world 
were  in  the  enemy's  hands.     The  siege  had  begun. 

The  Government  which,  on  the  4th  of  September, 
replaced  that  of  the  fallen  Emperor  was  one  of 
National  Defence,  so  called ;  and,  being  self-constituted, 
it  exercised  a  sort  of  dictature.  It  included  most  of 
the  prominent  Republicans,  and  had  as  its  head  General 
Trochu,  an  officer  who  in  August  had  been  considered 
one  of  the  first  of  the  Staff  and  in  December  was 
deemed  the  most  incapable.  After  enjoying  immense 
popularity,  he  became  among  the  people,  whom  he 
sought  to  rule  by  moral  suasion,  the  butt  of  the  grossest 
jests.  Whereas  his  colleagues  contented  themselves 
with  styling  him  a  Lamartine  in  uniform,  the  crowd 
had  no  other  name  for  him  than  the  bill-sticker.  He 
was  made  the  scapegoat  of  the  army,  as  Jules  Favre 
ultimately  was  of  the  civilian  population.  It  was  the 
latter's  unlucky  phrase,  not  an  inch  of  our  territory, 
not  a  stone  of  our  fortresses,  which  through  the  con- 
trast of  events  lowered  him  in  the  common  estimation. 


THE   WAR   AND   THE    COMMUNE       23 

The  harsh  condemnation  passed  on  Trochu  by  the 
men  of  his  day— Gambetta  and  Victor  Hugo  to  boot 
— and  even  by  some  French  historians,  is  not  just. 
Called  upon  to  defend  Paris,  his  obvious  duty  was 
rather  to  spare  than  to  use  up  his  troops,  while  waiting 
for  outside  help.  He  could  not  himself  raise  the  siege  ; 
and,  though  he  should  have  broken  the  German  cordon 
by  the  impact  of  all  his  men  on  one  point,  it  would 
have  meant  the  immediate  capitulation  of  the  city. 
What  he  did  was  to  organize  a  series  of  sorties  that 
kept  the  enemy  continually  busy  and  inflicted  constant 
losses  on  them  until  all  the  armies  that  were  gathered 
to  succour  him  had  been  beaten  back  and  compelled  to 
forgo  their  mission.  And,  in  this  labour  of  Hercules, 
he  showed  qualities  as  an  organizer  and  tactician  that 
were  remarkable. 

Until  the  capitulation  of  Metz  at  the  end  of  October, 
the  Parisians  preserved  their  good-humour  and  their 
optimism  with  regard  to  the  issue  of  the  war.  In 
September,  General  Trochu's  grand  review  of  the  city's 
forces,  extending  from  the  Bastille  to  the  Arc  de 
Triomphe,  served  to  strengthen  their  confidence ;  and, 
when,  on  the  7th  of  October,  Gambetta  and  Spuller 
quitted  the  capital  in  the  balloon  Armand-Barbcs 
on  their  errand  of  sounding  the  tocsin  throughout  the 
provinces,  the  nearly  universal  opinion  was  that  before 
long  the  Prussians  would  be  obliged  to  retire. 

The  anger  and  disappointment,  therefore,  caused  by 
Bazaine's  surrender  were  all  the  more  intense ;  and, 
that  nothing  might  be  wanting  in  the  cup  of  bitterness, 
the  news  of  it  was  announced  at  the  same  time  as  that 
of  the  defeat  at  Bourget.  Profiting  by  the  agitation, 
the  Republican  extremists  in  Paris,  at  the  instigation  of 


24      THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

Ledru-Rollin,  Blanqui  and  Felix  Pyat,  made  their  first 
attempt  at  setting  up  the  Commune. 

Ledru-Rollin  had  been  a  deputy  and  Minister  of  the 
Interior  under  the  Republic  of  1848.  After  a  short 
spell  of  office,  he  went  into  opposition,  and,  being  mixed 
up  with  one  of  the  frequent  insurrections  of  the  period, 
escaped  to  England  to  avoid  arrest.  While  abroad,  he 
joined  Kossuth  and  Mazzini  in  their  plottings,  was  con- 
demned, in  his  absence,  to  transportation,  but  returned 
to  France  on  the  fall  of  the  Empire. 

Felix  Pyat  had  been  a  journalist  and  dramatic  author. 
A  deputy  and  an  insurgent  in  1848,  he  was  forced,  like 
Ledru-Rollin,  to  go  into  exile.  Amnestied  just  before 
the  war,  he  resumed  his  attacks  on  the  Government, 
and  was  condemned  to  five  years'  imprisonment. 
Restored  to  liberty  in  September  1870,  he  published 
during  the  siege  a  paper  called  the  Combat. 

Blanqui,  who  had  studied  medicine  and  law,  suffered 
imprisonment  as  early  as  1830,  on  account  of  his  con- 
spiracies. Liberated  in  1837,  he  was  again  arrested  and 
condemned  to  death  in  1840.  The  sentence  being  com- 
muted, he  remained  in  prison  till  1848.  Other  plots 
against  the  Government  procured  him  further  years  of 
detention,  which  did  not  hinder  him  from  preaching 
insurrection  in  1870,  in  his  paper,  La  Patrie  en 
danger. 

These  three  men  were  born  anarchists,  and  dreamed 
of  establishing  society  on  a  Utopian  basis.  The  siege 
seemed  a  good  occasion  to  put  their  theories  into 
practice.  There  were  discontents  everywhere,  and 
among  the  National  Guard  in  particular,  whole  regi- 
ments of  which  they  contrived  to  enlist  on  their  side. 
On  the  31st  of  October,  these  regiments  at  their  sug- 


r  m 


o 


THE    WAR   AND   THE   COMMUNE       25 

gestion  swooped  down  on  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  where 
the  National  Defence  Government  was  sitting,  and 
shut  up  the  Ministers.  General  Trochu  himself  was 
a  prisoner.  Luckily  for  those  confined,  one  of  their 
number,  Monsieur  Picard,  managed  to  slip  out  and 
collect  a  body  of  loyal  soldiers  numerous  enough  to 
overawe  the  deserters.  A  short  imprisonment  was  the 
only  punishment  meted  out  to  the  ringleaders.  Pyat's 
first  act  on  leaving  the  Conciergerie,  was  to  print  in 
his  paper  that  '  he,  a  good  citizen  and  a  man  of  order, 
had  been  hustled  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville  by  some  rioters 
of  the  National  Guard.' 

In  November,  the  rigour  of  the  siege  began  to  tell 
upon  the  capital.  The  price  of  provisions  went  up 
enormously.  Potatoes  were  twenty  francs  a  decalitre, 
milk,  two  francs  and  a  half  per  litre,  butter,  forty 
francs  a  pound,  eggs,  two  francs  apiece.  A  chicken 
cost  sixty  francs,  a  cat,  twenty  francs,  a  rat,  two  francs. 
The  clubs  and  cafes  were  as  full  as  ever,  perhaps 
fuller ;  for  people  sought  there  the  comforts  they  could 
not  get  at  home.  A  few  only  of  the  richer  restaurant 
keepers  were  able  to  supply  their  customers  with  the 
usual  tabic  d'hote,  for  instance  Brebant,  who  in  1872 
was  presented  witli  a  medal  struck  in  his  honour  by 
fourteen  wealthy  men  of  letters,  the  inscription  on  the 
medal  recording  the  fact  that,  at  their  fortnightly 
dinners  in  the  restaurant  during  the  autumn  and 
winter  of  1870-1.  the  excellence  of  their  bill  of  fare, 
and  of  the  dishes  supplied,  prevented  them  from 
remembering  they  were  in  a  besieged  city.  Most  of 
the  theatres  were  closed.  However,  at  the  Comedie- 
Francaise  and  the  Opera,  performances  were  given  from 
time  to  time  in  aid  of  the  victims  of  the  war.     And 


26       THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

the  list  of  these  was  increasing.  Beyond  the  deaths 
by  violence,  the  mortality  from  privation  was  going  up 
by  leaps  and  bounds. 

Every  one  knew  now  that  foreign  intervention  was 
not  to  be  expected.  Thiers  had  paid  his  round  of  visits 
to  the  courts  of  Europe  and  been  rebuffed.  The  efforts 
he  and  Jules  Favre  made  to  conclude  peace  on  favour- 
able terms  had  been  equally  fruitless.  November 
ended,  and  December  began  with  General  Ducrot's 
losses  at  Villiers  and  Champigny ;  and  the  frosts  of  a 
hard  winter  descended  upon  the  earth  to  render  the 
sufferings  of  the  combatants  more  terrible. 

The  closing  month  of  the  year  brought  with  it  fresh 
miseries,  a  death-rate  of  five  thousand  a  week,  and 
another  lost  battle.  To  eke  out  the  horse-flesh,  which 
was  the  only  meat  available  then,  Castor  and  Pollux, 
the  two  elephants  of  the  Jardin  des  Plantes.  were  killed 
and  handed  over  to  the  butchers. 

But  not  even  the  horrors  of  their  circumstances  were 
able  to  make  the  inhabitants  of  Paris  quite  forget  the 
celebration  of  the  Jour  de  VAn.  New  Year's  presents 
were  given  by  those  who  could  afford  them,  mostly 
things  of  utility.  A  fine  Gruyere  cheese  was  among 
these  etrennes.  Monsieur  Jules  Simon,  one  of  the 
Ministers,  whose  wife  had  organized  a  charity  sale  for 
the  occasion,  afterwards  related  that  a  poor  shoemaker 
offered  a  new  pair  of  boots  which  he  had  made  on 
purpose.     They  were  thankfully  received. 

With  the  month  of  January  came  the  bombardment, 
causing  on  the  whole  more  fright  than  damage.  Sir 
Richard  Wallace,  whose  liberalities  to  Paris  have 
endeared  his  name  to  the  French,  headed  a  subscription 
on  behalf  of  its  victims   and   the  poor  with    130,000 


THE    WAR   AND   THE   COMMUNE       27 

francs.  A  couple  more  sorties  as  far  as  Montretout 
and  Buzenval,  in  the  latter  of  which  the  painter  Henri 
Regnault  perished,  and  the  resistance  was  abandoned. 
On  the  23rd,  Jules  Favre  left  for  Versailles  to  pro- 
pose an  armistice.  A  few  days  later,  peace  negotia- 
tions were  opened,  and  all  the  forts  round  Paris  were 
occupied  by  the  Germans. 

A  hard  condition  insisted  on  by  the  conquerors  was 
the  triumphal  entry  of  their  troops  into  the  vanquished 
city.  It  was  a  needless  humiliation  to  inflict ;  and, 
perhaps,  as  much  as  any  other  cause,  contributed  to  the 
sanguinary  events  of  the  Commune.  In  anticipation  of 
the  unwelcome  visit,  Paris  shrouded  itself  in  mourning. 
No  newspapers  were  published  ;  all  the  shutters  were 
closed  ;  crape-bordered  flags  hung  from  the  windows  ; 
every  one  remained  indoors ;  and  the  whole  of  the 
Champs  Elysees.  which  was  the  portion  of  the  city  to 
be  occupied  by  the  enemy,  was  shut  off  from  the  rest 
of  the  capital  by  a  barrier  of  French  guards.  Not  one 
of  the  inhabitants  came  to  look  at  the  invaders.  Alone, 
hidden  in  the  trees  and  shrubs  and  cafes  of  the  vicinity, 
some  two  hundred  urchins,  who  had  escaped  through 
the  barriers,  ensconced  themselves  and  replied  to  the 
German  music  by  shrill  volleys  of  whistling  that  spoilt 
its  effect  and  almost  drowned  it. 

The  occupation  lasting  forty-eight  hours,  from  March 
1st  to  March  3rd,  accommodation  had  to  be  found  for 
the  soldiers.  In  a  place  that  had  been  exhausted  by  a 
long  siege,  catering  for  thirty  thousand  extra  mouths 
presented  many  difficulties  :  and,  in  some  cases,  billet- 
ing tickets  were  given  on  the  wrong  people.  By  one 
of  these  mistakes,  fifty  troops  were  sent  to  the  Austrian 
Consulate,  where  they  were  refused  admission.  Hearing 


28      THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

of  what  had  occurred,  the  United  States  Minister, 
Mr.  Washburn,  courteously  placed  his  own  mansion 
at  the  disposal  of  the  French  authorities,  and  the  hitch 
was  got  over. 

One  of  the  most  pathetic  incidents  of  the  day  is 
related  by  Alphonse  Daudet.  An  eighty-year-old  cui- 
rassier of  the  first  Empire,  Colonel  Jouve,  who  lived  in 
the  Champs  Elysees,  had  had  a  stroke  on  hearing  of 
the  defeat  at  Wissembourg ;  and  his  grand-daughter, 
inspired  by  the  first  false  news  about  ReichshofFen,  had, 
in  order  to  save  him,  invented,  all  through  the  war, 
victory  after  victory  of  the  French,  and  the  siege  of 
Berlin,  which  kept  the  old  man  in  a  state  of  seeming 
convalescence.  When  the  bombardment  commenced, 
it  was  less  easy  to  carry  on  the  deception,  but  the 
grand -daughter  told  him  the  noise  was  caused  by  salvos 
fired  in  honour  of  their  successes.  At  last,  however, 
there  was  the  inevitable  appearance  of  the  enemy 
coming  from  the  Arc  de  Triomphe.  The  invalid,  who 
was  out  on  the  balcony,  imagined  for  a  moment  it  was 
MacMahon's  veterans  that  were  descending  the  Avenue. 
But  the  uniforms  and  the  music  told  another  tale. 
From  his  parched  throat  broke  a  cry,  a  terrible  cry, 
To  a?~ms  /  To  arms !  the  Prussians !  and  the  four 
Uhlans  of  the  advance  guard  saw  the  tall,  aged 
cuirassier  stagger  and  fall  prone.  Colonel  Jouve  was 
dead. 

Between  the  end  of  January  and  March,  a  new 
National  Assembly  of  Parliament  had  been  elected 
and  had  commenced  its  sittings  at  Bordeaux.  There, 
the  treaty  of  peace  was  ratified  ;  and  there,  on  the  10th 
of  March,  the  vote  was  passed  which  transferred  the 
seat  of  Government  from   Paris  to   Versailles.      This 


THE    WAR   AND   THE   COMMUNE       29 

choice  was  an  error.  Louis  Blanc,  one  of  the  Deputies, 
told  the  Assembly  so.  '  It  will  drive  the  Parisians,' 
he  said,  '  to  give  themselves  a  Government  over  which 
the  Assembly,  sitting  elsewhere,  will  have  no  influence  ; 
and  it  will  most  likely  rouse  from  the  ashes  of  the 
horrible  war  with  the  foreigner  a  civil  war  more  horrible 
still.'  His  protest  was  not  listened  to.  The  vast  ma- 
jority of  the  members  were  provincials  that  had  little 
or  no  sympathy  with  the  capital,  blaming  it  for  its 
fickleness  in  the  past  and  holding  it  responsible  for 
what  had  occurred  under  Napoleon.  The  blame  was 
not  altogether  deserved.  When  Napoleon  was  raised 
by  the  plebiscite  to  supreme  power,  Paris  had  answered 
no,  the  provinces,  yes  ;  and,  when  the  question  of  the 
recent  war  was  debated,  they  were  mostly  Parisian 
deputies  who  had  opposed  it.  There  was,  however, 
another  motive  which  inclined  the  Assembly  to  prefer 
Versailles.  .  The  majority  were  Monarchists.  Their 
intention  was  to  restore  the  line  of  the  banished  kings ; 
and  they  believed  that,  for  the  accomplishment  of  this 
purpose.  Versailles  would  suit  them  better  than  the 
capital. 

Meanwhile,  the  storm  was  preparing  in  Paris. 
Thiers,  who  had  been  elected,  for  the  nonce,  chief  of 
the  Executive,  appears  not  to  have  suspected  what 
would  happen.  Trochu,  who  was  more  accurately 
informed,  warned  him ;  but  he  made  light  of  the 
advice.  It  was  as  Blanc  had  said.  The  visits  of 
Ministers  to  the  capital  were  no  adequate  substitute  for 
the  presence  of  a  regular  Parliament.  Indeed,  the 
Ministers  themselves  came  late  and  stayed  only  a  short 
time  each  day.  The  roles  were  reversed.  Formerly 
Paris  had  given  orders  and  news  to  the  provinces  ;  now 


30      THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

it  awaited  them.  The  inhabitants,  both  high  and  low, 
felt  the  change  all  the  more  bitterly,  as  they  had  borne 
the  chief  burden  and  brunt  of  the  struggle,  and  had 
suffered  most.  Moreover,  the  taking  away  of  the  city's 
public  life,  at  a  moment  when  there  was  the  greater 
need  of  it  in  order  to  restore  trade,  rendered  the  task  of 
finding  employment  for  the  poorer  classes,  increased  by 
large  numbers  of  disbanded  soldiers,  almost  an  impos- 
sible one. 

Amid  this  mass  of  people  thus  inopportunely  deserted 
by  the  State,  the  various  political  associations  of 
advanced  views  that  exist  in  all  great  cities  found 
willing  adherents.  And  the  associations  themselves,  at 
first  isolated,  began  to  group  and  unite,  looking  for 
support  to  the  famous  Central  Committee  which  had 
been  created  during  the  siege  as  an  unauthorized 
auxiliary  to  the  National  Defence  organization  and  the 
municipal  bodies.  Even  at  the  earlier  period,  some 
inconvenience  had  resulted  from  the  co-existence  of 
several  powers  whose  limits  and  relative  superiority 
were  not  clearly  defined  ;  and  now,  in  the  absence  of  a 
Parliament  that  should  have  found  means  to  reconcile 
them,  the  committee,  reinforced  by  men  who  later 
played  a  chief  part  in  the  Commune,  gradually  substi- 
tuted its  decisions  for  those  of  the  official  administra- 
tion ;  and,  relegating  the  Mayor  of  Paris  and  his 
colleagues,  the  Maires  $ arrondissement ,  to  the  back- 
ground, claimed,  at  least  for  the  capital,  the  right  to 
form  a  frankly  Republican  Government  pledged  to 
social  reform — in  other  words,  the  Commune,  or  com- 
plete home  rule.  The  Communal  ideal  was  that  each 
commune  or  locality  should  be  independent,  and  that 
the  federation  of  all  the  communes  should  make  up  the 


THE   WAR   AND   THE   COMMUNE       31 

State.  What  more  natural  than  that,  the  Parisians 
being  left  to  themselves  at  this  critical  juncture,  the 
revolutionary  clubs  and  societies  should  endeavour  to 
put  their  theories  into  practice.  Among  the  battalions 
of  unemployed  that  paraded  daily  in  some  of  the 
quarters  of  Paris  their  emissaries  were  busy,  and  now 
and  again  savage  outbursts  of  anger  happened.  During 
one  of  these  processions  in  February,  an  unlucky  police- 
man accused  of  spying  was  tied  to  a  plank,  flung  into 
the  river  and  stoned  to  death. 

Nearly  all  these  workless  citizens  had  weapons.  The 
announcement  that  the  enemy  was  about  to  march  in 
at  their  gates  converted  them  into  an  army.  Acting 
on  a  report  that  the  Germans  were  intending  to  steal 
the  cannons  which  were  located  in  Passy,  and  on  the 
Place  Wagram,  they  hurried  hither  and  dragged  them 
up  to  Montmartre  and  the  remoter  quarters  of  the  city 
by  Belleville.  This  was  the  starting-point  of  the  insur- 
rection. 

Perhaps,  even  then,  if  the  National  Assembly  had 
taken  the  advice  of  Jules  Ferry,  the  head  Mayor,  and 
had  come  back  quickly,  all  might  have  been  well.  But 
his  entreaties  were  unheeded  :  and,  in  a  few  days, 
Duval,  the  future  General  of  the  Commune,  had  his 
plan  of  action  practically  ready. 

In  the  middle  of  March,  Monsieur  Thiers,  after  de- 
liberating with  his  Cabinet,  gave  orders  for  the  cannons 
to  be  fetched  away  from  the  heights.  General  Lecomte 
with  twenty  thousand  men  was  entrusted  with  the 
mission.  The  step  was  taken  without  any  previous 
conciliatory  attempt  being  made  through  the  mayors  to 
come  to  an  arrangement,  which  would  have  been  more 
prudent,    and,    in    the    peculiar    state    of   things,   was 


32      THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

only  the  people's  due.  Early  in  the  morning  of  the 
18th,  the  General  marched  his  troops  to  the  spot ;  but, 
on  his  arrival,  found  that  he  had  not  horses  enough  for 
the  removal  of  the  cannons.  A  few  were  carried  off 
at  once,  therefore,  and  a  message  was  despatched  for 
reinforcements.  In  the  interval,  the  news  spread  that 
a  coup  d'etat  was  occurring.  Soon  a  multitude  of  men, 
women  and  children  were  swarming  round  the  soldiers, 
who  allowed  themselves  to  be  disarmed ;  and  the 
General  and  his  staff  were  seized  and  imprisoned.  On 
the  same  day,  Lecomte  and,  with  him,  Clement 
Thomas,  a  former  General  of  the  National  Guard,  who 
had  imprudently  ventured  into  the  crowd,  were  shot  by 
the  insurgents. 

In  this  deed  of  blood  the  Central  Committee  pro- 
bably had  no  direct  share.  It  was  due  rather  to  the 
exasperation  of  excited  subordinates,  and  was  a  reply  to 
the  shooting  of  some  of  the  people's  sentinels  in  the 
morning.  A  graver  thing  was  the  defection  of  the 
soldiers  and  the  uprising  of  half  the  city.  Monsieur 
Thiers  found  himself  faced  by  a  separatist  movement 
which  in  some  way  or  other  had  to  be  repressed.  His 
conviction  was  that  violent  means  alone  would  avail, 
and  that  nothing  less  than  Bazaine's  army,  which  had 
just  been  set  at  liberty  by  the  Germans,  would  suffice 
for  the  work.  Acting  on  this  opinion,  he  withdrew 
from  the  city  with  his  ministers  and  the  regiments  that 
had  remained  faithful  to  him,  until  he  should  have  his 
army  in  fighting  trim.  Perhaps,  at  the  time,  there  was 
no  better  course  to  pursue,  at  any  rate  with  a  National 
Assembly  so  prejudiced  against  the  capital. 

The  Mayors  of  the  Paris  arrondissements  and  other 
friends  of  order  did  their  best  to  heal  the  breach,  and 


THE    WAR   AND   THE    COMMUNE       33 

requested  to  be  admitted  at  the  bar  of  the  Assembly, 
in  order  to  plead  for  the  city  and  urge  its  legitimate 
claims.  But,  when  the  Municipal  Representatives 
appeared,  girt  with  their  tricolour  scarfs,  and  a  cry  of 
Vive  la  Republique  broke  from  them  and  was  caught 
up  by  the  deputies  of  the  Republican  Left,  they  were 
refused  a  hearing  by  the  majority.  This  incident  and  a 
fresh  riot  in  Paris,  during  which  a  number  of  people 
were  killed,  stopped  the  negotiations.  Thereupon  the 
Central  Committee  proceeded  to  hold  elections  through- 
out the  arrondissements  and  the  Commune  was  set  up. 

Incited  by  the  example  of  Paris,  some  other  towns  of 
France — Marseilles,  Lyons,  Saint-Etienne,  Narbonne — 
declared  their  independence  also ;  but  these  provincial 
secessions  were  quickly  crushed.  In  Marseilles  the 
regime  lasted  for  thirteen  days ;  this  was  the  longest. 
In  Paris,  the  Commune  reigned  for  two  months. 

The  secessionists,  both  chiefs  and  the  rank  and  file, 
were  in  the  main  sincere.  They  had  had  enough  of 
empires,  and  monarchies,  and  aristocracies,  which  had 
always  been  systems  of  privilege  and  servitude.  What 
they  desired  was  liberty  and  justice  for  all.  Yet,  on 
the  whole,  during  their  brief  spell  of  power,  they  acted 
no  more  wisely  than  the  administrations  they  con- 
demned. Among  them  were  too  many  dreamers,  too 
many  dare-devils,  too  many  meddlers,  too  many  ignor- 
amuses, in  and  out  of  office.  Delescluze  and  Felix 
Pyat  were  the  leaders  of  the  extremists ;  Vermorel, 
Tridon  and  Arthur  Arnold  of  the  moderates.  The  last 
lived  into  the  nineties,  became  a  Theosophist  and  wrote 
novels.  There  were  other  strange  and  interesting 
figures,  Varlin,  a  working  bookbinder ;  Flourens,  a 
sort  of  romanesque  hero,  who  fell  in  one  of  the  earlier 


34       THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

combats  round  Paris ;  Gambon  and  Beslay,  greybeards 
who  had  seen  many  ups  and  downs ;  Rigault  and 
Billioray,  men  of  sinister  mind ;  Eudes,  a  decayed 
gentleman ;  Babyck  and  Jules  Alix,  half-mad  harum- 
scarums.  Alix,  in  the  first  days  of  the  siege,  had  been 
secretary  to  a  ladies'  club  in  which  men  were  admitted 
only  as  spectators.  One  of  his  droll  proposals  was  that 
the  women  of  the  city  should  be  sent  to  guard  the 
ramparts,  and  that,  in  case  of  need,  they  should  defend 
their  life  and  honour  against  the  enemy  by  means  of  a 
caoutchouc  tube  worn  on  the  finger  and  filled  with 
prussic  acid.  An  ingenious  piece  of  mechanism  would 
enable  them  to  prick  the  hands  and  immediately  cause 
the  death  of  those  who  should  lay  hold  of  them. 
Prussic  acid  for  the  Prussian !  The  women  wept  and 
the  men  laughed  at  Monsieur  Alix's  invention  of 
genius. 

The  Versailles  troops  began  the  second  siege  of 
Paris  in  April ;  and  gradually  they  captured  the  out- 
lying positions  all  round  its  walls.  The  struggle  natur- 
ally brought  into  prominence  the  members  of  the 
Communist  government  who  were  men  of  action. 
Delescluze  and  Felix  Pyat  ruled  as  masters.  The 
former  of  them,  like  his  colleague,  had  led  an  adven- 
turous existence.  Having  been  involved  in  the  re- 
volutions of  1830  and  1848,  he  had  spent  long  years  in 
exile.  In  1853,  he  was  transported  to  the  He  du  diable, 
where  Dreyfus  was  afterwards  confined.  Returning  to 
France  before  the  fall  of  the  Empire,  he  founded  the 
Reveil  newspaper ;  and  in  it  opened  the  subscription 
for  Baudin  that  led  to  the  famous  prosecution  in  which 
Gambetta  first  revealed  himself  as  an  orator.  After 
fresh  imprisonments,  he  was  elected  to  the  National 


THE    WAR   AND   THE   COMMUNE       35 

Assembly  in  1871  ;  but  resigned  and  preferred  to 
throw  in  his  lot  with  the  Commune. 

Under  the  control  of  such  men,  the  capital  offered 
weird  contrasts  during  the  months  of  April  and  May 
— receptions  and  fetes  and  ceremonies  in  the  midst 
of  armed  troops  going  out  to  battle  and  returning 
with  their  wounded  ;  the  overthrow  of  the  Vendome 
column  ;  the  burning  of  the  guillotine  ;  courts  martial ; 
and  a  jack-in-the-box  succession  of  functionaries  that 
disappeared  almost  before  they  took  possession  of  their 
posts. 

At  last,  all  the  outside  forts  commanding  the  capital 
were  in  the  hands  of  the  besiegers.  Cluseret  and 
Rossel,  two  of  the  Communist  generals,  realized  that 
they  were  fighting  a  losing  game.  The  dominant 
thought  in  the  minds  of  the  secessionist  leaders  was 
that,  if  conquered,  they  would  make  the  vanquishers 
pay  dearly  for  their  victory.  'After  our  barricades, 
our  houses ;  after  our  houses,  our  mines,'  proclaimed 
Delescluze  and  his  fellows ;  and  Valles  added :  '  If 
Monsieur  Thiers  is  a  chemist,  he  will  understand.' 

In  spite  of  past  and  impending  carnage,  the  quieter 
portion  of  the  Parisian  population  were  carrying  on 
their  occupations  and  enjoying  themselves  when  they 
could.  On  Sunday  the  21st  of  May,  the  anglers  on 
the  banks  of  the  Seine  were  indulging  in  their  favour- 
ite sport.  Before  the  Committee  of  Public  Safety, 
Cluseret  was  being  arraigned  by  his  compeers  for 
crimes  real  or  imaginary.  Suddenly,  a  telegram 
arrived  :  "  The  enemy  has  entered  the  city  by  the  Gate 
of  St.  Cloud,"  it  said.  Hastily  the  trial  was  concluded  ; 
Cluseret  was  acquitted  ;  and  each  hurried  forth. 

The  week  that  followed  was  a  week  of  blood  and  fire. 


36      THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

Street  after  street,  quarter  after  quarter  was  stormed 
by  the  invaders  and  as  obstinately  defended  by  the 
federates.  For  the  old  barricades  new  ones  were  con- 
tinually substituted  ;  as  many  as  five  hundred  were 
manned.  Montmartre  was  captured  at  the  outset. 
The  worst  combats  were  waged  in  the  Faubourg  Saint 
Honore,  the  Boulevard  Malesherbes,  about  the  Made- 
leine Church,  in  the  Rue  Royale  and  in  the  Tuileries. 
Inside  the  large  salon  of  the  Tuileries,  Bergeret  held  a 
council  of  war  and  gave  orders  for  the  apartments  to 
be  smeared  with  petroleum  and  fired.  On  the  left 
bank  of  the  river,  Eudes  did  the  same  along  the  Rue 
de  Lille,  in  the  Cour  des  Comptes  and  the  Palace  of 
the  Legion  of  Honour.  Soon  the  conflagration  com- 
menced in  the  east  of  the  city.  Right  up  the  Rue  de 
Rivoli  and  as  far  as  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  vast  furnaces 
blazed.  The  powder  magazine  of  the  Luxembourg 
Palace  was  blown  up  ;  and  over  the  scene  of  devastation 
and  slaughter  volleyed  and  thundered  artillery  from 
without  and  within  the  fortifications.  There  were 
massacres  on  each  opposing  side.  To  the  execution  of 
their  fellows  captured  by  the  Versailles  troops,  the 
federates  retorted  by  putting  to  death  the  hostages  they 
held  in  prison,  among  them  being  the  Archbishop  of 
Paris,  Monsignor  Darboy,  a  good  man  who  had  tried  to 
play  the  part  of  mediator  and  had  failed.  Slowly  still 
the  invaders  advanced,  gaining  the  Pont  d'Austerlitz. 
The  final  assaults  were  delivered  at  the  Bastille,  in 
Belleville  and  on  the  Place  du  Trone  and  at  Pere 
Lachaise.  A  livid  sky,  fog,  and  torrential  rain  covered 
up  in  their  gloom  the  closing  agonies  of  this  gigantic 
mette  No  mercy  was  shown  by  the  victors,  and  none 
was  asked  by  the  vanquished.     As  many  as  seventeen 


PRESIDENT     THIERS 
Fr.Mii  an  Engraving  after  Mine.    DE    MIRBEL 


THE   WAR   AND   THE   COMMUNE      37 

thousand  presumed  federates  were  slain  fighting  or 
were  shot  down  after  arrest,  and  thirty-five  thousand 
were  hurried  away  to  prison. 

Monsieur  Thiers  had  returned  to  Paris  on  the  22nd 
of  May,  radiant  and  happy.  His  star  was  in  the 
ascendant.  A  day  or  two  later,  Delescluze,  old,  weary 
and  worn  out,  mounted  a  barricade  in  the  Boulevard 
Voltaire  and  let  himself  be  riddled  with  the  enemy's 
bullets.  It  was  the  end.  On  the  28th,  Marshal 
MacMahon  was  able  to  post  up  at  midday  the  news 
that  the  Commune  had  ceased  to  live. 

The  majority  of  its  chiefs  escaped,  among  them 
Felix  Pyat,  Valles,  Miot,  and  Cluseret.  Durand  and 
Rigault  were  seized  and  shot  in  the  melee.  Jourde, 
Pascal  Grousset,  Assi,  and  Ferri  were  arrested,  and 
the  last  was  also  shot.  The  same  fate  soon  overtook 
Varlin  and  Gaston  Cremieux.  Of  the  rank  and  file 
that  had  fallen,  not  a  few  were  innocent  of  all  that 
might  be  charged  against  the  heads  of  the  movement, 
and  some  thousands  must  have  perished  victims  of 
mischance  or  some  base  vengeance.  Huge  heaps  of 
corpses  were  buried  in  trenches,  without  anyone's 
troubling  to  identify  them.  Those  who  were  arrested 
were  taken  first  to  Versailles,  where  they  underwent  a 
preliminary  examination,  and  were  afterwards  con- 
veyed in  batches  towards  Brest,  Lorient,  Cherbourg, 
and  La  Rochelle.  with  a  view  to  their  being  transported. 
Thcophile  Gautier  describes,  in  graphic  language,  the 
journey  of  one  of  these  convoys.     He  says  : — 

"  It  was  terribly  hot.  The  sun's  rays  were  like 
molten  lead.  The  poor  wretches,  brought  from  Paris 
on  foot  by  horsemen  who  involuntarily  hastened  them 
on.  were  unable  to  continue  their  way  after  the  fatigue 


38       THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

of  fighting.  Scared,  panting,  dripping  with  sweat, 
they  had  been  obliged  to  lie  down  as  if  they  were 
a  herd  of  cattle  halted  by  drovers  at  the  entrance  to  a 
town.  .  .  .  An  ardent,  inextinguishable  thirst  devoured 
these  unfortunates,  worn  out  by  the  intense  heat,  and 
the  dread  of  approaching  death,  for  many  believed 
that  they  were  to  be  shot  at  the  end  of  the  march. 
They  gasped  and  panted  like  hounds  in  the  chase, 
crying  with  hoarse  voice  :  water  !  water  !  water !  In 
such  a  state  even  beasts  would  have  inspired  pity." 

And  the  arrests  continued.  They  went  on  indeed 
for  years,  until  the  numbers  of  those  tried  approached 
fifty  thousand.  There  were  even  denunciations  of  no 
fewer  than  three  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  people. 
Not  before  1875  did  the  Courts  Martial  cease  to  sit  for 
the  purpose  of  judging  persons  suspected  of  active 
participation  in  the  Commune.  A  decade  later,  an 
amnesty  intervened  to  close  this  most  terrible  episode 
of  a  terrible  war.  But  it  did  not  entirely  efface  on 
either  side  the  bitter  memory  of  mutual  wrongs 
suffered. 


Ill 

THE   PRESIDENCY   OF  THIERS 

From  the  misfortunes  of  the  war  and  its  closing 
catastrophe,  two  men  came  forth  with  enhanced  re- 
putations, Thiers  and  Gambetta.  And,  of  the  two, 
Thiers,  the  champion  of  the  national  unity,  received 
the  greater  honour.  Like  many  famous  statesmen  in 
France,  he  was  a  southerner.  Born  at  Marseilles  in 
1797,  he  studied  for  the  Bar  and  came  to  Paris  in  1820. 
In  the  capital  he  soon  made  himself  a  name,  speaking, 
pleading,  writing,  to  the  admiration  of  not  a  few  and  to 
the  surprise  of  all.  His  short  stature  and  his  eternal 
spectacles  were  a  bizarre  foil  to  his  imperturbable 
self-possession  and  authoritative  manners.  Journalism 
and  literature — his  brilliant  history  of  the  French 
Revolution  especially  —  facilitated  his  entrance  into 
Parliament,  where  he  successively  rose  to  be  Minister 
of  the  Interior  in  1834  and  Prime  Minister  in  1836. 
While  Louis- Philippe  was  king,  he  remained  for  the 
most  part  in  opposition ;  under  the  Second  Republic, 
he  supported  Louis  Bonaparte  against  Cavaignac ;  and, 
during  the  Empire,  he  ranged  himself  on  the  side  of 
Parliamentary  constitutionalism. 

It  was  an  irony  of  fate  that  he,  as  also  Victor  Hugo, 
should  have  helped  largely  to  foster  the  idolatry  which 
restored  the  Bonapartist  dynasty.     With  his  peculiar 

39 


40      THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

talent  of  simplifying  and  illuminating  all  that  he  dealt 
with,  though  more  often  superficially,  he  charmed  by 
his  relation  of  the  first  Napoleonic  campaigns,  interested 
by  the  way  in  which   he  treated   the  more  abstract 
questions  of  finance  and  policy,  and  gave  to  others  the 
illusion  he  possessed  himself  of  understanding  every- 
thing.    His  mind  was  an  inquiring  one,  but  on  the 
positive,  materialistic  side  only.     His  intelligence  was 
keen,  yet  limited  in  its  scope.    Conservative  by  natural 
bent,  his  reason  forced  him  to  play  mainly  a  critic's 
part   against   the   very   man   with    whom    he   was   in 
sympathy   most   nearly   allied.      Louis-Philippe,   who 
feared  him  more  than  he  loved  him,  found  this  modern 
king -maker    embarrassing.      Balzac    called    him    the 
enfant  terrible.      Merimee,  at  a  later   date,  predicted 
that  he  would  issue  from  his  frcmdeur  role  only  after 
a  catastrophe.    And,  Cassandra-like,  between  1864  and 
1870,  he  continued  to  prophesy  the  cataclysm.     His 
eloquence,  less  verbose  than  in  the  past,  grew  precise, 
but  still  was  as  passionate  as  ever.     Urging,  in  speeches 
that  lasted  for  hours  without  fatiguing  his  audience,  a 
more  serious  preparation  for  the  conflict  with  Prussia 
which  he  foresaw  would  happen,  he  in  turn  satirized 
the  Imperial  Government,  which  he  characterized  as  a 
monarchy  on  its  knees  before  the  democracy,  and  then 
he  appealed  to  the  nation,  exclaiming:  'I  represent  the 
national  instinct.'     His  vision  anticipated  the  unity  of 
Italy  followed  by  that  of  Germany,  his  fears,  the  loss 
of  the  Rhine  provinces  and  the  formation  of  a  Triple 
Alliance.     In  those  days,  he  was  called  by  the  short- 
sighted   majority    'the    anti-patriotic    trumpeter    of 
disaster.'     The  crowd  even  threatened  to  destroy  his 
house  in  the  Rue   Saint-Georges.      Within  a  month 


THE    PRESIDENCY   OF   THIERS         41 

afterwards,  all  that  he  had  been  foretelling  had  poten- 
tially come  to  pass. 

When  the  Prussian  invasion  swept  away  Napoleon's 
throne,  he  made  no  effort  to  seize  the  reins  of  power. 
It  was  not  lack  of  ambition  which  restrained  him.  Of 
this  quality  he  had  always  had  more  than  his  share. 
But  he  knew  he  was  the  indispensable  man  ;  and, 
while  accepting  the  mission  of  trying  to  persuade  the 
Cabinets  of  Europe  to  intervene,  he  preferred  to  wait 
until  solicited  not  only  by  one  party  but  by  all.  In  the 
Government  of  National  Defence  he  was  not  included. 
It  was  the  Bordeaux  National  Assembly  which  pro- 
claimed him  'Chief  of  the  Executive.'  At  this  time 
he  was  seventy-three  years  old.  At  such  an  age  most 
men  have  finished  with  life's  activities.  But,  as  he 
said  to  his  friends  : 

'  To-day,  it  is  we  who  are  the  young  ones.' 

His  good  fortune  was  to  have  friends  in  every  party 
except  that  of  the  fallen  Emperor.  Each  and  all  hoped 
he  would  favour  their  pretensions.  The  Royalists  fan- 
cied he  was  waiting  only  for  them  to  choose  between 
the  two  rival  claimants  of  the  Bourbon  family,  the 
Duke  of  Bordeaux,  better  known  as  the  Comte  de 
Chambord,  and  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  otherwise  called 
the  Comte  de  Paris.  These  two  were  the  direct 
descendants  of  the  last  reigning  kings,  Charles  X  and 
Louis-Philippe.  Both  from  patriotic  motives,  and 
doubtless,  too,  from  a  desire  to  put  forward  their  title 
to  the  throne,  the  exiled  princes  had  asked  permission, 
when  the  war  broke  out,  to  return  to  France  and  serve 
in  the  army.  Their  request  was  not  granted.  How- 
ever, Thiers  had  privately  advised  the  pretendants  to 


42       THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

form  a  corps  franc  and,  in  this  capacity,  to  come  and 
join  the  French  troops.  The  advice,  though  not  acted 
upon,  was  remembered  ;  and  it  was  thought  that,  when 
a  fitting  opportunity  should  be  found,  he  would  not 
oppose  a  return  to  the  Monarchy.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  Republicans  did  not  forget  his  admission  that 
the  form  of  government  they  advocated  was  the  one 
that  divided  the  nation  least.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
Thiers  had  little  personal  preference  for  either  system  ; 
provided  it  were  Conservative,  and  he  were  at  the  head 
of  it,  he  would  have  been  content  to  support  the  one 
or  the  other.  If,  as  time  went  on,  he  lent  his  authority 
more  and  more  to  the  maintenance  of  the  statu  quo,  it 
was  because  the  Republican  regime  seemed  to  him  more 
stable  and  more  favourable  to  his  own  supremacy. 

Another  element  of  his  strength  was  the  attachment 
shown  him  by  the  army,  for  which  he  consistently 
professed  and  felt  great  admiration.  His  competence 
in  military  matters  was  small ;  but,  in  those  days  of 
defeat,  it  was  not  difficult  to  express  one's  self  appro- 
priately on  the  subject.  He  never  tired  of  discoursing 
on  war  as  he  never  tired  of  witnessing  its  pomps  and 
parades. 

Of  course,  as  well  as  many  friends,  he  had  many 
enemies,  though  fewer,  since  he  spared  them  as  much 
as  possible.  The  Socialists  detested  him.  The  Repub- 
lican Lefts  suspected  he  might  abandon  his  neutrality 
and  act  the  part  that  Monk  did  in  England.  The 
antagonism  between  him  and  Gambetta,  born  during 
the  war,  increased  until  his  own  fall.  He  regarded  the 
great  tribune  as  a  raging  madman;  and  Gambetta 
retorted  by  calling  him  the  sinister  old  man.  When 
deeply  irritated,  Thiers  could  show  his  teeth,  even  to 


THE   PRESIDENCY   OF   THIERS         43 

royalty.  On  one  occasion,  Louis-Philippe  tried  to  get 
him  in  a  ministerial  combination  that  he  disliked  ;  and 
he  declined.  Ironically,  the  King  said  :  '  You  wish  to 
make  me  believe  you  don't  care  for  a  portfolio.'  '  Sire,' 
the  little  bourgeois  answered :  '  Whenever  you  have 
told  me  you  were  reluctant  to  assume  the  burden  of 
the  crown,  I  have  always  believed  you.' 

The  Royalist  majority  in  the  new  National  Assembly 
would  have  made  more  haste  to  settle  their  differences, 
but  that  they  wished  the  conditions  of  peace  and  the 
last  episodes  of  the  war  to  be  arranged  first,  so  that 
none  of  the  odium  and  responsibility  should  be  in- 
curred by  the  restored  monarch.  The  policy  was  a 
short-sighted  one,  since,  with  each  year  of  Republican 
rule,  there  was  a  greater  force  of  habit  to  overcome. 
Even  in  the  early  days  they  must  have  had  misgivings; 
but  at  the  moment  it  was  not  easy  to  quarrel  with 
Thiers. 

'  What  will  you  do  with  France  when  peace  is 
signed  ? '  the  Comte  de  Falloux  asked  him. 

'I  don't  know  what  we  shall  do,'  replied  Thiers. 
'  But  I  am  sure  that,  with  a  ministry  in  which  I  shall 
have  on  my  right  my  dear  old  friends  Falloux  and 
Larcy,  we  shall  vanquish  all  difficulties.' 

1  But  my  conditions  will  be  the  Monarchy,'  Monsieur 
de  Falloux  insisted. 

'No  doubt,'  said  Thiers.  -On  that  point  we  are 
agreed ;  but  time  is  wanted,  more  than  you  or  I 
imagine  to-day.' 

The  fair  interpretation  to  give  to  these  words  in  the 
light  of  subsequent  events  is  that  the  speaker  was  not 
averse  to  a  Restoration — after  his  death.  What  cannot 
be  denied  is  that  during  his  tenure  of  the  supreme 


44      THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

magistracy,  he  combated  the  various  Royalist  and  the 
Imperialist  groups,  pitting  them  one  against  the  other. 
As  he  remarked :  '  There  is  but  a  single  throne  and 
there  are  three  to  sit  on  it.' 

The  government  organized  by  the  National  As- 
sembly at  Bordeaux  had  been  recognized  by  the  Great 
Powers  in  the  month  of  February  1871.  Its  members 
were  chosen  from  the  different  parties  in  Parliament 
and,  on  the  whole,  represented  their  relative  strength. 
Only  three  out-and-out  Republicans  belonged  to  it, 
Jules  Favre  at  the  Foreign  Office,  Jules  Simon  at  the 
Education  Department,  and  Ernest  Picard  at  the 
Home  Office.  The  last  two  were  good  appointments, 
the  first,  a  less  fortunate  one.  Favre  was  more  of  an 
orator  than  a  statesman.  Thiers  chose  him  as  having 
been  Vice-President  of  the  National  Defence  adminis- 
tration ;  but  he  was  incapable  of  coping  with  a  man  of 
Bismarck's  calibre  and  consummate  ability. 

For  some  months  the  Chief  of  the  Executive's  func- 
tions preserved  their  temporary  character ;  and  then, 
in  August,  they  were  converted  by  the  voting  of  the 
Loi  Rivet  into  a  regularly  constituted  Presidency, 
which  was  to  last — so  the  law  stated — as  long  as  the 
National  Assembly  itself.  This  result  was  reached 
by  the  clever  manoeuvring  of  Monsieur  Thiers,  who 
threatened  to  resign  if  his  powers  were  not  more 
clearly  defined.  The  Monarchist  majority  were  at 
the  time  unprepared  with  an  alternative,  since  the 
Legitimist  pr&endant,  the  Comte  de  Chambord,  was 
not  willing  to  accept  the  throne,  unless  the  tricolour 
flag  of  the  Great  Revolution,  which  had  since  been  the 
flag  of  France,  were  replaced  by  the  older  one  of  his 
ancestors.     The    Comte   de    Paris   had   not   the  same 


THE   PRESIDENCY    OF   THIERS         45 

scruples ;  but  he  could  hardly  allow  his  claims  to  be 
substituted  for  those  of  his  relative,  until  the  latter  had 
formally  renounced  his  rights  or  the  whole  Royalist 
party  were  in  agreement.  Neither  of  these  solutions 
having  been  obtained,  the  Monarchist  majority  hastened 
to  give  Thiers  what  he  asked  for,  lest  Gambetta,  who 
was  waging  a  campaign  in  favour  of  dissolution,  should 
succeed,  and  a  new  Parliament  lessen  their  numbers. 

The  Rivet  law  legalized  what  in  fact  had  character- 
ized Monsieur  Thiers'  rule  from  its  commencement. 
He  was  really,  though  not  in  name,  both  President  of 
the  country  and  Prime  Minister.  Having  the  right 
to  speak  in  Parliament  as  often  as  he  desired,  he  inter- 
fered in  every  important  debate ;  and,  either  by  the 
suavitcr  in  modo  or  the  fort it er  in  re,  managed  to  get 
his  will  obeyed.  It  was  a  peculiar  sight  that  of  the 
little  bourgeois  playing  the  role  of  Parliamentary 
dictator,  centralizing  every  department  of  the  adminis- 
tration and  having  his  word  to  say  in  all.  He  was 
fully  persuaded  of  his  universal  capacity,  and,  to  tell 
the  truth,  came  near  to  universality. 

On  one  occasion,  speaking  of  a  person  who  was 
soliciting  the  post  of  Director  at  the  Sevres  Porcelain 
Manufactory,  he  remarked : 

'  He  is  no  more  fitted  for  the  place  than  I  am 
for ' 

There  was  a  pause,  during  which  the  gentleman  with 
whom  he  was  in  conversation  exclaimed  : 

'  Aha !  Monsieur  Thiers,  confess  that  you  are  at  a 
loss  to  say  what  you  cannot  do  ? ' 

'  That's  true ;  that's  true,'  acknowledged  Thiers, 
smiling. 

A  touching  incident,  during  these  same  first  months 


46       THE   THIRD    FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

of  office,  was  his  review  of  the  army  on  the  29th  of 
June — not  the  army  as  it  had  gone  forth  hoping  to 
conquer,  but  as  it  had  come  back  from  the  wars  and 
with  the  enemy  still  around  the  walls  of  the  capital. 
At  Longchamps,  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand 
men,  fifteen  thousand  being  cavalry,  denied  before  him 
and  the  National  Assembly.  In  spite  of  threadbare 
uniforms,  they  looked  proud  and  once  more  confident. 
Those  present  were  moved,  seeing  Monsieur  Thiers,  as 
the  troops  marched  past,  bite  his  lips,  pull  his  spectacles 
up  and  down  over  his  swimming  eyes,  press  his  fingers 
into  the  palms  of  his  hands,  tap  with  his  foot,  and  draw 
up  his  short  stature,  at  intervals,  majestically.  At 
last  MacMahon  came  to  salute  him.  Then  the  grand, 
little  old  man  rushed  down  to  meet  the  Marshal, 
took  his  hands,  tried  to  speak,  and,  overwhelmed 
with  emotion,  burst  into  tears.  MacMahon  himself 
stood  with  cheeks  that  were  suspiciously  wet. 

The  preliminary  peace  signed  at  Versailles  stipulated 
that  the  definitive  treaty  should  be  discussed  and  settled 
in  Brussels.  Negotiations  were  opened  there  in  March  ; 
but,  owing  to  the  outbreak  of  the  struggle  with  the 
Commune,  Bismarck's  demands  became  more  stringent 
than  they  were  originally,  so  that  the  month  of  May 
arrived  without  an  agreement  being  come  to  on  the 
separate  clauses,  and  in  particular  as  to  the  mode  of 
payment  of  the  five  milliards  indemnity.  At  last,  the 
two  parties  removed  from  Brussels  to  Frankfort ;  and 
there,  the  disputed  points  being  arranged,  they  put 
their  signatures  to  the  document  that  gave  Germany 
the  territory  she  coveted  along  the  west  bank  of  the 
Rhine.  In  this  diplomatic  encounter,  neither  Thiers 
nor  Jules  Favre  scored  as  much  as  they  might  have 


THE   PRESIDENCY   OF   THIERS         47 

done,  if  they  had  not  been  harassed  by  the  revolt  of 
the  capital.  The  only  member  of  the  French  commis- 
sion that  appears  to  have  held  his  own  against  the 
Chancellor  was  Pouyer-Quertier,  who  had  taken  the 
Finance  Department  when  Picard  resigned  it  to  go  to 
the  Home  Office.  Cool,  good-humoured  and  practical, 
he  replied  to  Bismarck's  thrusts  by  clever  parries  or 
return  lunges  that  astonished  the  man  of  iron.  It 
was  his  shrewdness  which  saved  France  the  French- 
speaking  valley  of  Suarcine  in  the  vicinity  of  Belfort ; 
and  he  enhanced  this  victory  by  securing  also  the  retro- 
cession of  Villerupt  with  its  important  iron  mines. 
Bismarck  had  just  declared  he  would  grant  nothing 
more.     Monsieur  Pouyer-Quertier  answered  : 

'  If  you  were  the  vanquished,  on  my  honour,  I 
would  not  force  you  to  become  French ;  and  yet  you 
force  me  to  become  German.' 

'  What  do  you  mean  ? '  exclaimed  Bismarck.  '  Who 
talks  of  taking  your  Normandy  ?  I  don't  understand 
you.' 

'  It's  simple  enough,  Prince.  I  am  one  of  the  owners 
of  the  Villerupt  forges.  So  you  see  that  on  this  side 
you  make  me  German.' 

'Well,  well!'  said  Bismarck;  'don't  cry.  I'll  let 
you  keep  Villerupt.  But  don't  ask  for  anything  else, 
or  I'll  take  it  back.' 

It  was  not  an  easy  matter  for  Thiers  to  bring  the 
assembly  to  approve  the  treaty,  especially  that  part  of  it 
which  yielded  Alsace  and  Lorraine.  But  he  had  his 
way.     Says  a  witness  : 

'  He  treated  those  who  were  not  of  his  opinion  as 
inept  and  ignorant  of  history  and  geography.  With 
his  usual  lucidity,  he  gave  a  lesson  of  strategy  to  the 


48       THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

simple-minded  ones  of  the  Assembly,  and  did  it  so  well 
that  no  one  had  the  courage  to  make  further  objections. 
We  believed  at  a  certain  moment  he  was  going  to 
sketch  out  the  plan  of  the  next  campaign  against 
Prussia.' 

Difficulties  were  experienced,  too,  by  the  delimitation 
commission.  Several  times  the  new  frontier  posts 
were  torn  up  by  the  exasperated  population.  On  the 
confines  of  Beuville  and  Boulange,  the  French  and 
German  experts  were  one  day  awaiting  the  Mayor  of 
the  latter  commune.  Seeing  him,  at  length,  in  the 
distance,  walking  very  leisurely,  the  German  commis- 
sary apostrophized  him : 

'  Come,  Mr.  Mayor,  you  are  late  ;  hurry  up  a  little." 

The  Mayor,  a  big,  burly  miller,  slackened  his  pace 
rather  than  quickened  it ;  and,  when  he  reached  the 
angry  foreigner,  replied  phlegmatically : 

'  Ah !  do  you  imagine  I  am  so  eager  as  all  that 
to  change  my  nationality  ? ' 

In  certain  portions  of  France  still  occupied  by  the 
enemy,  there  were  isolated  cases  of  German  soldiers 
being  murdered  by  the  people.  All  this  and  Bismarck's 
peremptoriness  of  tone  in  his  successive  communications 
to  the  French  Government  rendered  the  remainder  of 
1871  a  period  of  the  utmost  anxiety  to  Thiers  and  his 
coadjutors. 

In  the  month  of  July,  a  petition  of  the  Bishops 
asking  for  the  Government's  intervention  in  Italy  to 
restore  the  temporal  power  of  the  Pope  marked  the 
beginning  of  the  clerical  agitation  in  politics,  which, 
backed  up  by  the  Extreme  Rights,  was  soon  to 
become  systematic.  Monsieur  Thiers  endeavoured  to 
give  to  the  discussion  of  this  petition  a  tone  which, 


Photograph  :    Druet 


QUAI     MALAQUAIS 

From  the  Picture  by  RENOIR 


THE   PRESIDENCY   OF   THIERS         49 

while  respectful  towards  the  Vatican,  should  convince 
the  newly  established  kingdom  of  his  Government's 
friendly  intentions.  But  he  was  unable  to  prevent  the 
document  from  being  sent  for  consideration  to  the 
Ministry  for  Foreign  Affairs.  Italy  took  umbrage ; 
and,  not  long  after,  turned  towards  Germany,  with  the 
result  that  she  ultimately  joined  to  make  one  in  the 
Triple  Alliance. 

A  law  on  departmental  organization,  to  which 
Monsieur  Waddington's  name  was  attached,  and  which 
was  passed  in  August,  had  much  happier  effects,  being 
the  first  step  towards  decentralization  since  the  Consti- 
tution of  the  Year  VIII  under  the  first  Republic.  Its 
real  innovation  was  the  creation  of  a  permanent  depart- 
mental commission  entrusted  with  the  task  of  seeing" 
that  the  decisions  of  the  Conseils  Generaux  (sorts  of 
County  Councils)  were  strictly  carried  out ;  and  it 
inaugurated"  an  era  of  successful  local  activity  practi- 
cally unfettered  by  State  interference. 

The  winter  session  of  Parliament  opened  in  Decem- 
ber at  Versailles,  which  continued  to  be  the  seat  of 
legislature  and  the  residence  of  the  President.  The 
hotel  of  the  Prefecture,  where  Monsieur  Thiers  offi- 
cially lived,  was  sarcastically  called  the  Palace  of 
Penitence.  At  the  opening  sitting  of  the  Assembly, 
the  question  of  changing  to  Paris  was  agitated ;  but 
the  motion  was  rejected  by  the  Conservative  majority, 
who,  however,  failed  in  their  endeavours  to  pass  a  law 
adopting  Versailles  as  the  definite  capital  of  France. 
In  his  message,  the  President  exhibited  a  good  deal 
of  nervousness  and  ill-humour,  attacking  almost  every- 
thing and  every  one.  He  was  preoccupied  with  his 
plan  of  anticipating  the  payment  of  the  indemnity,  so 


50      THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

as  to  free  the  country  of  the  invader.  Besides  the  five 
milliards  to  be  paid  to  the  Germans,  there  was  the 
balance  of  the  war  expenses  to  be  met,  amounting  to 
another  three  and  a  half  milliards.  In  addition  to  these 
responsibilities,  a  thorough  reorganization  of  the  social, 
educational  and  military  institutions  was  necessary ; 
and,  standing  in  the  way,  there  faced  him  the  problem 
of  the  regime — Monarchy  or  Republic.  The  old  man 
spoke  wisely  ;  but  not  a  few  found  him  tiresome. 

The  fact  was  that  the  several  sections  of  the 
Assembly  were  gradually  focussing  their  demands,  and, 
in  their  separate  action,  were  growing  embarrassing. 
The  Extreme  Rights  were  absolute  Royalists ;  the 
Rights,  without  epithet,  somewhat  less  hidebound  and 
more  alive  to  present  needs  ;  the  Right  Centres,  mostly 
Orleanists,  unwilling  to  adopt  the  white  flag  but,  for 
the  rest,  ready  to  rally  round  any  branch  of  the 
Bourbons — even  the  Due  d'Aumale,  who,  with  his 
brother  the  Prince  de  Joinville,  belonged  to  the 
Assembly.  The  Left  Centres  were,  in  general,  friends 
of  Thiers ;  they  had  come  to  believe  timidly  in  the 
Republic.  Then  there  were  the  Lefts  or  moderate 
Republicans,  with  Jules  Grevy,  Jules  Simon  and  Jules 
Favre  as  leaders ;  and  lastly,  there  was  Gambetta's 
party,  the  extreme  Lefts,  Radicals  or  Reds,  themselves 
shading  off  into  an  incipient  Socialist  fag-end ;  all  the 
Radicals  denied  the  Assembly's  right  to  frame  a  per- 
manent constitution  without  a  fresh  appeal  to  the 
country ;  they  were  all,  moreover,  somewhat  opposed 
to  Thiers. 

The  Assembly,  738  in  number,  met  in  the  huge 
opera-hall  of  the  Castle,  built  by  Gabriel  for  the  fetes 
of  Louis  XV.     Its  fauteu'ds  were  upholstered  in  red 


THE   PRESIDENCY   OF   THIERS         51 

velvet ;  its  tribune,  of  mahogany,  was  approached  by 
a  double  staircase  of  six  steps  ;  and  the  lofty  galleries 
that  overhung  the  floor  served  for  the  Press  and  the 
public.  In  his  volume  on  the  Government  of  Monsieur 
Thiers,  Hanotaux  gives  an  outline  sketch  of  one  of 
the  sittings : — 

"  Monsieur  Grevy,  the  Chairman,  in  his  black  frock- 
coat,  with  placid  and  occasionally  sleepy  face,  is  none 
the  less  attentive  to  the  many  representatives  that 
come  to  consult  him  or  merely  to  ask  for  tickets.  On 
the  benches  are  striking  types  of  men,  celebrated  or 
well  known  :  Monsieur  de  Lorgeril,  the  Breton  bard ; 
Monsieur  de  Belcastel,  always  ready  to  interrupt  any 
one  speaking ;  Monsieur  de  Tillancourt,  who  has 
brought  with  him  from  the  Chamber  of  the  Empire 
the  reputation  of  a  wordmonger  ;  Monsieur  de  Lastey- 
rie,  with  his  everlasting  green  shade ;  Monsieur 
Emmanuel  "Arago,  whose  stentorian  voice  all  at  once 
dominates  the  tumult ;  Monsieur  Schoelcher,  dressed 
in  black  and  affecting  the  reserve  and  correct  manners 
of  the  gentleman ;  Colonel  Langlois,  who  rushes  to 
the  tribune  on  the  least  incident  that  excites  his  nerves 
and  feelings ;  Monsieur  Ernest  Picard,  copious  and 
jovial ;  Monsieur  Jules  Simon,  round  of  shoulder ; 
Monsieur  Jules  Favre,  with  deeply-lined  features  and 
melancholy  air  ;  Monsieur  Dufaure,  hidden  behind  the 
high  collar  of  his  chestnut  frock-coat ;  Monsieur  Littre, 
shrivelled  up  beneath  his  blue  velvet  skull-cap ;  Mon- 
signor  Dupanloup,  with  satellites  about  him,  distri- 
buting signs  and  orders  to  younger  men  that  carry 
them  to  the  four  quarters  of  the  edifice ;  Monsieur 
Gambetta,  already  stout,  with  head  thrown  back, 
lolling  on  his  seat,  absorbed  in  the  debates  ;  near  him, 


52       THE   THIRD    FRENCH    REPUBLIC 

Garnier-Pages,  with  his  legendary  collar ;  and,  below 
him,  the  old  Monsieur  Corbon. 

"  Often  the  sitting  gets  lively.  Not  a  few  of  the 
speakers  wax  passionate,  from  faith  in  the  authority 
and  force  of  what  they  say.  On  the  right,  the  Due 
d'Audiffret-Pasquier,  keen,  fiery,  natural ;  Monsieur 
Ernoul,  fluent  and  well-informed ;  Mgr.  Dupanloup, 
who  is  listened  to  indulgently ;  Monsieur  de  Caznove 
de  Pradines,  who  speaks  amidst  respect.  In  the 
centre,  Monsieur  Thiers,  who,  in  spite  of  every- 
thing, casts  his  spell  over  the  audience  ;  Jules  Simon, 
whose  voice  is  caressing ;  Monsieur  Dufaure,  who 
drives  home  an  argument  like  a  peasant  pushing 
a  plough ;  Ernest  Picard,  full  of  verve,  wit,  and 
apropos.  On  the  left,  Monsieur  Challemel-Lacour. 
sent  to  the  Assembly  in  1872,  and  whose  biting 
vehemence  will  soon  be  a  revelation ;  Jules  Ferry, 
labouring  and  harsh,  but  vigorous  and  penetrating ; 
Gambetta,  whose  appearance  in  the  tribune  is  the 
signal  for  silence  and  whose  voice  raises  a  storm." 

No  one  who  has  visited  Versailles  in  recent  years 
and  who  has  been  struck  with  its  sleepy  aspect  can 
quite  realize  what  a  busy  hive  it  was  during  the 
transient  revival  of  its  ancient  activity  and  splendour. 
The  hotels  were  full  of  deputies,  functionaries,  jour- 
nalists, office-seekers  and  dilettanti.  Women  in  elegant 
toilets  were  everywhere.  Wit,  jests  and  laughter 
sparkled  on  every  side,  in  spite  of  secret  heartaches ; 
and  the  President's  central  figure  and  presence 
dominated  and  was  felt  throughout.  Famous  were 
his  dinners  and  soirees,  where  enemies  as  well  as  friends 
were  received.  If  the  former  was  a  Catholic,  the 
host    would    recognize    that   the   latest  discoveries  of 


THE   PRESIDENCY   OF   THIERS         53 

science  agreed  with  the  Bible ;  if  a  sceptic,  he  would 
talk  of  spontaneous  generation ;  if  a  politician,  he 
would  listen  to  the  honourable  gentleman's  proposals. 

This  notwithstanding,  his  relations  with  the  Assembly 
tended  to  become  more  strained,  in  proportion  as  the 
conflicting  parties  it  contained  strove  for  the  triumph 
of  their  opinions.  Jules  Simon's  bill  on  compulsory 
education  was  adjourned  sine  die;  and,  more  serious 
still,  the  President's  fiscal  project  was  defeated,  which, 
in  order  to  increase  the  revenues,  aimed  at  establishing 
protective  duties  instead  of  an  income  tax,  as  the  Free 
Trade  Lefts  desired.  Thiers  felt  the  latter  blow  keenly, 
since  he  could  not  realize  his  scheme  of  paying  oft*  the 
war  debt  in  advance,  unless  the  money  he  required  were 
furnished  quickly  and  easily.  It  was  the  first  time  the 
Assembly  had  refused  to  be  persuaded  by  him.  To 
mark  his  displeasure,  he  made  common  cause  with  his 
Ministers  and  resigned. 

His  Cabinet  at  this  moment  was  not  quite  the  same 
as  when  he  came  into  power  in  1871.  Individual 
ministers  had  retired  on  personal  grounds,  and  one  had 
died.  For  a  brief  space,  Casimir  Perier,  the  father  of 
the  future  President,  had  been  at  the  Home  Office. 
However,  there  were  men  with  him  still — Dufaure,  de 
Larcy,  Pothuau,  de  Remusat  (the  last  mentioned  at 
the  Foreign  Office) — who  offered  a  good  front  to  the 
chiefs  of  the  Rights,  de  Broglie,  Saint-Marc  Girardin, 
d'Audiffret-Pasquier,  Bathie,  Changarnier,  de  la  Roche- 
foucauld, Buffet,  who  possessed  either  the  influence  of 
great  names  or  talents  of  no  mean  order. 

The  whole  situation  was  obscure.  The  Rights,  who, 
for  the  nonce,  had  not  voted  against  the  President, 
were  none  the  less  wroth  with  him  for  having  in  his 


54       THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

latest  speeches  declared  that  a  loyal  essay  of  the 
Republic  must  be  made.  It  was  clear  to  them  now 
that  Monsieur  Thiers  would  never,  as  long  as  he  was  in 
office,  favour  the  Restoration.  Yet,  when  the  crisis  was 
sprung  thus  suddenly  upon  them,  having  no  concerted 
line  of  action  ready,  they  reluctantly  joined  the  delega- 
tion of  the  Lefts  and  begged  him  to  take  back  his  resig- 
nation. The  quarrel  was  patched  up ;  and  the  little- 
bourgeois  resumed  his  Presidency ;  but  the  peace  was 
only  temporary.  Steadfast  in  their  determination, 
the  Royalists  despatched  another  messenger,  General 
Ducrot,  to  the  Comte  de  Chambord,  who  was  at 
Antwerp — their  previous  emissary,  Monsignor  Du- 
panloup,  having  failed — and  inquired  whether  the 
claimant  to  the  throne  would  consent  to  Thiers'  being 
again  overthrown  and  to  the  Due  d'Aumale's  being 
appointed  interimary  Lieutenant-General  of  the  country, 
pending  arrangements  for  his  return  to  his  kingdom 
under  the  tricolour  flag.  Unfortunately  for  them,  the 
Count  remained  inexorable  on  the  question  of  the  flag. 
Either  he  would  come  back  under  Joan  of  Arc's  white 
flag  or  not  at  all.  So  the  attempt  at  a  compromise 
was  once  more  unsuccessful. 

Meanwhile,  the  President  was  threatened  by  the 
Bonapartists.  Monsieur  Rouher,  a  former  lieutenant 
of  Napoleon  the  Third — the  Vice-Emperor  he  was 
called — had  been  returned  to  Parliament  for  Corsica, 
early  in  1872.  At  once  he  began  a  vigorous  pro- 
paganda throughout  France.  Pamphlets  were  sown 
broadcast  to  prove  to  the  nation  that  their  misfortunes 
were  due  not  to  the  Empire  but  to  the  regime  that  had 
followed  it.  Newspapers  were  founded,  the  Ordre,  the 
Petit  Caporal,    the  Armee,    addressing  themselves  to 


THE   PRESIDENCY   OF   THIERS         55 

the  masses  ;  and  the  Gaulois,  raising  the  Imperial  flag, 
endeavoured  to  capture  the  schools.  Daily  meetings 
were  held  at  the  Cafe  de  la  Paix,  in  the  Boulevard  des 
Capucines,  nicknamed  the  Boulevard  de  File  d'Elbe. 
Some  dignitaries  of  the  Church  favoured  the  new  move- 
ment, Cardinal  de  Bonnechose  playing  the  same  part 
in  it  as  Monsignor  Dupanloup  on  behalf  of  the  Royalists. 
The  dethroned  Emperor  gratefully  welcomed  this  ec- 
clesiastic aid,  while  Prince  Jerome  Napoleon  hobnobbed 
with  the  free-thinkers  and  dined  with  Renan.  There 
were  manifestations  even  in  the  bosom  of  the  Academie 
Francaise.  Several  members  wore  violets — the  Imperial 
emblem — in  their  button-hole  ;  and  Camille  Doucet, 
the  Secretary,  at  the  reception  of  Jules  Janin,  passed  a 
eulogium  on  the  Emperor. 

As  long  as  the  agitation  confined  itself  to  these  verbal 
efforts,  Thiers  shrugged  his  shoulders ;  but,  when  the 
heads  of  it  opened  pourparlers  with  the  German 
authorities,  he  lost  patience.  Attacked  by  one  of  the 
Rights  for  not  governing  with  the  majority,  he  ex- 
claimed : 

'  I  am  seeking  for  the  majority,  and  I  find  only 
conspiracy ! ' 

The  summer  session  of  the  1872  Parliament  was  the 
culminating  period  of  Thiers'  rule.  Amid  its  in- 
testine discords,  the  Conscription  Bill,  so  dear  to  the 
President's  heart,  was  finally  passed.  Thenceforward, 
by  law,  each  Frenchman  owed  five  years'  compulsory 
military  service  to  the  State,  the  burden  on  the  nation 
being  lessened,  however,  by  the  possibility  of  a  one 
year's  volontariat  in  the  case  of  the  educated  class 
provided  with  a  University  degree.  If  anything  could 
make   the   old    man's  joy   greater,    it  was  seeing  the 


56      THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

country's  subscription  cover  the  Government  loan  more 
than  thirteen  times  over.  With  the  Treasury  coffers 
full,  and  the  certitude  of  being  able  to  discharge  his 
liabilities,  he  was  able  to  support  with  greater  equa- 
nimity Bismarck's  hauteur  and  irritation,  which  were 
partly  caused  by  the  quickness  the  French  showed  in 
recovering  their  spirits,  their  credit  and  their  strength. 

But  Bismarck,  the  Legitimists  and  the  Bonapartists 
were  not  the  only  thorns  in  his  side.  There  was 
Gambetta,  who,  while  sparing  him  personally,  con- 
tinued his  campaign  against  the  National  Assembly, 
which  he  wished  to  send  about  its  business.  '  The 
Chamber,'  said  the  orator,  in  a  speech  at  Albertville, 
'has  reached  the  last  degree  of  unpopularity,  im- 
potence, sterility  and  incapacity.'  '  I  feel,  I  announce 
the  presence  of  a  new  social  stratum,'  he  cried  at 
Grenoble.  It  was  the  democracy  he  meant.  Finally 
at  Saint-Julien,  he  denounced  the  secret  interference  of 
the  clergy  in  politics.  '  There  is  a  party,'  he  exclaimed, 
'which  is  the  enemy  of  all  independence,  light  and 
stability.     This  enemy  is  clericalism.' 

The  inconvenience  of  Gambetta's  strong  language 
became  evident  when  the  autumn  session  began.  It 
forced  Thiers  to  hold  himself  a  little  aloof  both  from 
the  Rights  and  the  Lefts.  Not  even  the  statement 
made  by  the  President  of  the  great  increase  in  the 
country's  foreign  trade  and  of  a  new  commercial 
treaty  with  England  sufficed  to  disarm  the  resentment 
of  the  Monarchists.     The  famous  Pact  of  Bordeaux1 


1  In  February  1871,  during  an  interview  with  the  Due  de  Rochefoucauld- 
Bisaccia,  the  Marquis  de  Juigne'  and  the  Marquis  de  Dampierre,  chiefs  of 
the  Monarchist  party,  Monsieur  Thiers  had  expressed  himself  as  follows  : 

'  I  need  your  confidence.     You  must  help  me  in  our  many  difficulties  to 


THE   PRESIDENCY   OF   THIERS         57 

was  thrown  in  his  face — the  tacit  agreement  according 
to  which  he  was  supposed  to  be  warming  the  place  for 
the  King  whenever  it  should  please  the  latter  to  re- 
turn ;  and  a  motion  was  passed  by  the  majority  con- 
demning the  Grenoble  speech.  Gambetta,  however, 
did  not  disarm.  More  than  ever  he  demanded  the 
dissolution  of  the  Assembly.  In  vain,  Monsieur  Thiers 
compromised  by  getting  a  Commission  appointed  for 
the  purpose  of  preparing  a  definite  Constitution.  The 
Commission  turned  against  him,  depriving  him  of  the 
privilege  he  had  hitherto  enjoyed  of  defending  himself 
at  the  tribune.  He  now  was  obliged  to  obtain  a 
special  permission  in  order  to  speak  in  the  Legislative 
Chamber.  And,  to  make  matters  worse,  his  Ministry, 
unable  to  support  the  strain  of  such  incessant  discord, 
lost  a  first  one,  and  a  second  one,  and  a  third  one  of  its 
number. 

1  Another  leaf  off*  the  artichoke,'  exclaimed  the  Due 
de  Broglie,  at  each  successive  resignation. 

The   conflict   dragged    on    into    the    spring   of   the 

put  our  unhappy  country  on  the  path  in  which  I  wish  to  see  her.  It  would 
be  perilous  and  contrary  to  every  rule  of  common  sense,  to  all  the  inspira- 
tions of  patriotism,  to  trouble  the  work  of  renewal  that  we  have  to 
accomplish,  by  planning  the  restoration  to  power  of  one  or  another  of  the 
parties  that  divide  us,  and  by  arousing  against  this  party  the  enmity  of 
those  whose  claims  had  been  passed  over.  But  it  is  evident  to  me  that,  if  we 
are  wise,  our  prudence  will  eventually  bring  us  to  the  Monarchy  when  it  is 
united,  yes,  gentlemen,  to  the  Monarchy  when  united.' 

This  declaration  was  completed  in  the  following  month  by  a  Parliamentary 
pronouncement,  in  which  Monsieur  Thiers  said  : 

'  When  the  country  is  reorganized,  we  will  come  to  you  here  and  speak 
thus :  "  You  placed  her  in  our  hands  wellnigh  wounded  to  death  ;  we  give 
her  back  to  you  convalescent.  It  is  the  moment  to  confer  on  her  a  definitive 
constitution  "  ;  and  I  pledge  you  the  word  of  an  honourable  man  that  not  one 
of  the  questions  that  have  been  reserved  shall  have  been  modified  by  any 
infidelity  on  our  part.' 


58      THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

following  year,  when  a  concurrence  of  fortuitous  events 
brought  things  to  a  climax.  So  far  Thiers  had  managed, 
by  utilizing  the  Centres  with  one  or  the  other  extreme 
section  of  the  Assembly,  to  steer  a  zigzag  course  and 
attain  his  ends  by  his  clever  tacking.  At  last  he  found 
himself  deserted  by  both  Rights  and  Lefts. 

With  the  former  his  breach  was  final.  They  gave 
him  up  as  impenitent ;  and,  as,  on  the  whole,  the  by- 
elections  were  going  against  them  and  were  reinforcing 
the  moderate  Republican  party,  they  resolved  that  the 
President  should  be  ousted  at  the  earliest  opportunity 
and  his  post  given  to  some  one  that  would  be  more 
malleable.  It  was  a  dog-in-the-manger  policy,  for 
neither  Monarchist  group  had  at  present  a  candidate 
capable  of  carrying  out  a  fresh  coup  d'etat.  The  Bona- 
partists,  who  had  concocted  a  second  edition  of  the 
escape  from  Elba  in  a  scheme  that  was  to  reintroduce 
Napoleon  III  into  France  through  Switzerland  and 
Annecy,  where  he  might  pick  up  a  few  regiments  and 
march  on  Paris,  were  suddenly  confounded  by  the 
death  of  the  ex-Emperor  in  the  January  of  1873.  As  for 
the  Legitimists,  they  were  still  in  the  dilemma  created 
by  Henri  de  Chambord's  conscientious  scruple  ;  and 
even  their  forlorn  hope,  the  Due  d'Aumale,  having 
lost,  by  death,  his  only  son,  the  Due  de  Guise,  pre- 
ferred henceforward  not  to  trouble  himself  with  the 
question  of  dynasties. 

The  quarrel  of  the  Lefts  with  the  President  was  of 
another  sort.  They  reproached  him  with  truckling  to 
the  Rights ;  and  to  some  extent  the  reproach  was 
grounded.  He  had  favoured  the  giving  back  to  the 
Orleans  family  of  the  property,  amounting  in  value  to 
forty  millions  of  francs,  which  they  had  been  deprived 


THE   PRESIDENCY   OF  THIERS         59 

of  by  the  late  Empire.  Nothing  could  be  said  against 
the  return  of  the  property ;  but  the  moment  chosen 
was  not  opportune.  Again,  a  law  concerning  higher 
education  had  been  voted,  which  allowed  the  clergy  to 
recover  some  of  its  ancient  influence.  And,  lastly, 
Thiers  had  entered  into  negotiations  with  the  Pope, 
sympathizing  with  his  changed  conditions  at  the  Vati- 
can, consequent  upon  the  Italian  occupation  of  Rome ; 
and  had  offered  to  provide  Pius  IX  with  a  residence 
in  France  and  money  to  maintain  him  in  it.  These 
acts  produced  an  impression  among  the  Lefts  that 
Monsieur  Thiers  was  becoming  reactionary ;  and  they 
manifested  their  displeasure  by  opposing  Monsieur 
Barodet,  a  candidate  of  their  own,  to  the  President's 
candidate,  Monsieur  de  Remusat,  at  a  by-election  in 
Paris.  Monsieur  Barodet  was  returned  by  a  large 
majority.  This  result,  which  was  unexpected,  induced 
the  President  during  a  fresh  chasse-croise  of  the  Cabinet 
that  occurred  at  the  time,  to  introduce  one  or  two  more 
Radical  elements  into  it.  The  Rights  immediately 
challenged  him  to  justify  his  conduct,  and,  in  the  debate 
that  ensued,  proposed  a  vote  of  censure. 

Game  to  the  end,  Monsieur  Thiers  fought  his  closing 
Presidential  battle  with  one  of  the  finest  speeches  he 
had  ever  made  ;  but  he  spoke  to  men  whose  minds 
were  fixed.  They  would  not  even  allow  him  to  be  in 
the  Chamber  at  the  end  of  the  discussion.  In  answer 
to  his  request,  the  Chairman,  Monsieur  Buffet,  said : 

'  Your  presence  at  the  Assembly,  in  any  capacity,  is 
formally  prohibited  by  the  law.' 

'  And  if  1  take  my  place  in  the  President's  tribune,' 
retorted  Thiers,  '  what  can  you  do  ? ' 

'  I  shall  immediately  order  the  tribune  to  be  cleared 


60      THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

and  all  the  others  also,  if  necessary,'  replied  the 
Chairman. 

The  vote  of  censure  was  passed  by  a  majority  of 
sixteen ;  and  the  same  day,  May  the  24th,  the  Presi- 
dent resigned. 

Although  surviving  until  1877,  and  exercising  con- 
siderable influence  after  his  fall,  the  petit  bourgeois' 
task  was  done.  Judging  him  on  his  conduct  during 
the  time  that  he  held  the  destinies  of  France  under  his 
control,  it  cannot  be  denied  that,  having  to  deal  with  a 
situation  more  disastrous  even  than  the  one  existing  at 
the  close  of  the  First  Empire,  since  the  country  was  at 
this  later  date  divided  against  itself,  he  succeeded,  in  a 
comparatively  short  period,  in  bringing  order  out  of 
chaos,  establishing  a  modus  vivendi,  and  restoring  the 
credit  of  the  nation.  His  mistakes  in  the  earlier  stage 
of  the  Commune  were  excusable ;  his  severities  in  the 
repression  of  the  movement  were  less  so ;  and  yet  even 
these  may  be  partly  explained  by  the  irritating  con- 
viction that  the  terms  of  peace  might  have  been  less 
onerous,  had  a  united  front  been  opposed  to  the 
conqueror.  In  his  policy  of  sitting  on  the  fence,  he 
certainly  acted  for  the  best  of  the  country's  interests. 
To  have  precipitated  a  Restoration  when  no  Royalist 
or  Imperialist  candidate  possessed  the  people's  con- 
fidence as  a  whole — and  Republicanism  was  increasing 
— would  have  been  to  risk  another  civil  war.  What  he 
did  was  to  give  France  breathing  time,  and  to  set  her 
on  her  legs  again  ;  and  the  best  justification  of  his  wary 
statesmanship  is  the  durability  of  the  regime  which  it 
inaugurated. 


^mamammmmm 


PRESIDENT     MACMAHON 

From  a  Photograph  bv  PIERRE  PETIT 


IV 

THE  PRESIDENCY  OF  MACMAHON 

One  of  Monsieur  Thiers'  most  indisputable  titles  to 
the  respect  of  his  fellow-citizens  was  the  ardour  and 
pertinacity  with  which  he  set  himself  to  pay  off  the 
war  debt.  It  was  his  constant  anxiety  throughout  his 
Presidency ;  and,  by  dint  of  skilful  financing,  he  was 
enabled,  while  in  office,  to  hand  over  three-quarters  of 
the  five  milliards.  In  return  for  these  advance  instal- 
ments, the  parts  of  French  territory  occupied  by  the 
Germans  were  evacuated  sooner  than  had  been  stipulated 
by  the  Treaty  of  Frankfort.  At  Thiers'  solicitation, 
Bismarck  even  went  so  far  as  to  withdraw  the  troops 
from  Belfort,  which  he  was  not  obliged  to  remit  to  the 
French  authorities  until  the  last  pfennig  had  been 
received.  This  took  place  just  before  the  24th  of  May. 
Thiers'  political  enemies,  rendered  cruel  by  the  needs  of 
their  cause,  snatched  from  him  the  satisfaction  of  com- 
pleting his  task.  In  a  vote  of  the  National  Assembly 
thanking  him  for  his  patriotic  endeavours,  the  Extreme 
Rights  had  associated  themselves  grudgingly.  Com- 
menting on  their  attitude,  Jules  Simon  said  to  him, 
laughing  : — 

'  Now  that  your  work  is  done,  you  must  pronounce 
your  Nunc  Dimittis.' 

Looking  at  his  friend,  Thiers  answered  pensively : 
1  But  they  have  no  one  to  put  in  my  place.' 

61 


62      THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

'Yes,  they  have,'  replied  Simon,  'they  have  Mac- 
Mahon.' 

'  Oh  !  he  will  never  accept,'  said  the  President.  '  I 
give  you  my  word  for  it.' 

Monsieur  Thiers  was  mistaken.  The  Marshal  allowed 
himself  to  be  elected.  The  only  other  person  seriously 
thought  of  for  the  reversion  was  the  Due  d'Aumale ; 
and,  for  the  reason  previously  stated,  as  well  as  for 
others  of  a  public  kind,  he  declined  the  honour. 

MacMahon  was  chosen  because  he  was  a  soldier,  not 
a  politician,  trained  to  obey  as  well  as  to  command. 
'  We  shall  only  have  to  invite  him,  and  he  will  make 
way  for  the  King  to  come  in,'  calculated  the  party  of 
the  Dukes.  But  the  best-laid  plans  of  mice  and  men — 
and  even  of  Dukes — gang  aft  agley.  The  Marshal's 
loyalty  and  simplicity  were  to  prove  as  formidable  an 
obstacle  to  the  realization  of  their  desires  as  the  more 
astute  policy  of  the  little  bourgeois. 

No  less  physically  than  morally,  the  new  President 
was  a  contrast  to  his  predecessor.  Tall,  slim,  blue- 
eyed,  florid  in  complexion,  with  white  moustache  and 
close-cropped  hair,  he  presented,  in  spite  of  his  sixty- 
eight  years,  an  altogether  martial  appearance  in  har- 
mony with  his  frank,  brisk  manners.  Irish  in  origin, 
his  family  had  been  settled  for  a  century  and  a  half 
in  France,  where  it  had  become  ennobled.  His  own 
career  had  been  a  brilliant  one.  During  the  conquest 
of  Algeria  he  had  greatly  distinguished  himself,  and  in 
the  Crimean  War  his  many  deeds  of  prowess  had  been 
crowned  by  the  capture  of  the  Malakoff  redoubt.  A 
senator  under  the  Empire,  he  continued  his  military 
exploits  in  the  Emperor's  campaign  against  Austria, 
and  was  made    Governor-General  of  Algeria  shortly 


THE   PRESIDENCY   OF   MACMAHON     63 

before  the  outbreak  of  hostilities  with  Prussia.  Being 
grievously  wounded  at  the  commencement  of  the  battle 
of  Sedan,  he  escaped  the  responsibilities  of  that  defeat ; 
and  returned  to  the  capital  to  take  part  in  the  repres- 
sion of  the  Commune. 

By  tradition  and  sympathies  a  Legitimist,  he  was 
none  the  less  content  to  accept  any  legally  constituted 
regime.  In  his  memoirs  he  confessed  :  '  Being  a  soldier, 
I  have  remained  a  soldier,  and  can  conscientiously  say  I 
have  not  only  honestly  served  successive  governments, 
but  have  regretted  them  all — except  my  own  ! ' 

Gifted  with  energy,  decision,  boundless  courage  and 
clear  common  sense  in  his  professional  and  private  life, 
he  was  out  of  his  element  amid  the  intrigues  and  pas- 
sions of  public  affairs.  Thiers,  whose  wit  was  apt  to  be 
malicious,  not  infrequently  made  him  the  butt  of  his 
bons  mots,  the  more  appropriately  as  the  Marshal 
occasionally  perpetrated  bulls  due  perhaps  to  his  an- 
cestry. The  little  bourgeois  was  not  above  inventing 
a  few  of  these  himself  and  fathering  them  on  Mac- 
Mahon. 

*  Aha ! '  he  said  on  one  occasion,  standing  with  his 
back  to  the  fire  in  his  drawing-room  as  he  was  wont ; 
'have  you  heard  MacMahon's  last?  He  went  to  the 
hospital  to  see  some  sick  soldiers. — '  And  what  has  been 
the  matter  with  you  ? '  he  asked  a  patient. — '  Scarlet 
fever,  mon  general.'' — '  Ah  !  bad  thing  that.  It  either 
kills  a  man  or  makes  an  idiot  of  him.  I  have  had  it ;  I 
ought  to  know.' 

Among  the  Marshal's  earliest  official  duties  was  the 
reception  of  the  Shah  of  Persia,  who  came  to  Paris  in 
July,  and  was  welcomed  with  all  the  greater  enthusiasm 
as  it  was  the  first  time  any  monarch  had  visited  the 


64   THE  THIRD  FRENCH  REPUBLIC 

French  capital  since  the  war.  He  was  feted  every- 
where, was  taken  to  the  old  Opera,  which  was  burnt 
down  a  few  days  later — happily  the  new  one  was  in 
building — was  able  to  admire  Paris  illuminated,  Paris 
once  more  gay,  and  was  finally  entertained  at  a  banquet 
in  Versailles.  His  neighbour  at  table  was  Monsieur 
Ernoul,  the  Garde  des  Sceaux,  an  adherent  of  the 
Comte  de  Chambord.  *  Isn't  the  question  you  are 
agitating  at  present  in  France,  whether  the  King  shall 
reign  without  governing?'  he  asked.  Monsieur  Ernoul 
hastened  to  change  the  conversation. 

The  Shah's  visit  almost  coincided  with  the  complete 
evacuation  of  French  soil  by  the  German  troops.  The 
departure  began  in  August,  when  Nancy,  the  centre  of 
the  occupation,  was  abandoned ;  and,  on  the  13th  of 
September,  a  week  after  the  last  instalment  of  the  war 
indemnity  had  been  paid  into  the  German  Exchequer, 
Verdun,  the  frontier  town,  saw  the  enemy  march  out 
and  the  French  flag  once  again  fly  from  the  top  of  the 
cathedral  towers.  At  this  signal,  the  bells  pealed  forth 
in  joyous  chime ;  and,  as  if  one  hand  had  unstrung 
them,  thousands  of  flags  were  unfurled  to  the  wind. 
Windows  and  doors  opened ;  a  throng  of  citizens 
rushed  into  the  streets,  gazing  eagerly  towards  the 
gates,  which  the  French  gendarmerie  had  just  entered. 
An  hour  or  two  afterwards,  two  battalions  of  the  line 
arrived  with  the  Staff.  At  the  sight  of  the  soldiers,  a 
thrill  ran  through  the  crowd.  The  sentry  at  the  Gate 
of  France  advanced  to  meet  the  regiment.  '  Who 
goes  there  ? '  he  cried. — '  France.' — '  What  regiment  ? ' 
— '  The  94th'. — '  Enter  when  you  please,'  was  the  reply. 

In  the  month  of  October,  an  event  much  less  agree- 
able to  the  nation,  since  it  awakened  painful  souvenirs 


THE   PRESIDENCY   OF   MACMAHON     65 

of  the  war,  was  the  court  martial  held  on  Marshal 
Bazaine  for  having  surrendered  Metz.  The  trial  had 
been  long  in  preparing.  Indeed,  Thiers  seems  to  have 
been  opposed  to  its  taking  place.  Bazaine's  previous 
record  was  so  honourable  that  he  would  fain  have 
spared  him  this  shame.  After  his  retirement,  however, 
the  Government  insisted  ;  and  the  Due  d'Aumale,  as 
the  senior  General,  was  entrusted  with  the  conduct  of 
the  proceedings.  Being  desirous  of  informing  himself 
as  accurately  as  possible  about  the  topography  of  the 
locality  in  which  the  surrender  had  occurred,  the 
Prince  asked  the  Due  de  Broglie,  who  was  Prime 
Minister,  to  obtain  the  German  Chancellor's  permission 
for  him  to  visit  Metz  and  its  environs,  now  no  longer 
French  territory.  The  application  was  transmitted, 
under  pledge  of  secrecy,  through  Count  Arnim,  the 
German  Ambassador  to  Paris.  Bismarck,  in  a  fit  of 
petulance,  not  only  refused  the  request  but  communi- 
cated it  to  the  Press. 

Bazaine's  defence  was  clever  without  being  con- 
vincing. He  was  undoubtedly  influenced  in  his  action 
by  what  had  occurred  in  Paris.  It  is  probable  even 
that,  realizing  all  chance  of  victory  was  lost,  he  wished 
to  preserve  his  army  for  the  re-establishment  of  the 
Imperial  Government  in  some  modified  form.  But  this 
subordination  of  military  to  political  considerations  was 
not  justifiable.  He  might  have  broken  out  of  Metz ; 
and,  if  he  had  suffered  serious  loss  in  doing  so,  it  would 
have  been  compensated  for  by  his  being  able  to  delay, 
if  not  to  hinder,  the  enemy's  march  on  the  capital. 
Metz  was  not  essential  and  Paris  was. 

The  commutation  of  his  death  penalty  into  twenty 
years'  imprisonment  was  largely  due  to  a  petition  in- 


66      THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

spired  by  the  Due  d'Aumale ;  the  judge  showed  him- 
self a  merciful  intercessor.  Escaping  from  the  He 
Sainte-Marguerite  in  1874,  Bazaine  spent  the  last  few 
years  of  his  life  in  Spain,  dying  there  in  great  poverty 
in  1888. 

At  this  time,  the  Restoration  advocates  were  pur- 
suing their  chimera  with  undiminished  zeal.  The  Due 
de  Broglie,  who  had  been  the  chief  instrument  in 
Thiers'  undoing,  had  naturally  been  placed  at  the  head 
of  MacMahon's  first  Cabinet.  For  a  short  time,  under 
the  previous  administration,  he  had  been  Ambassador 
to  London,  it  being  part  of  Thiers'  policy  to  remove 
from  the  capital  the  more  important  chiefs  of  the 
Monarchist  party  ;  but  he  had  given  up  his  post  and 
returned  to  Parliamentary  life.  In  his  strain  of  aristo- 
cratic Italian  blood  there  lurked  something  of  the 
Machiavellian  quality  which  Gambetta  cast  at  him 
tauntingly.  Whether  it  was  on  principle  or  because  he 
opined  the  Comte  de  Chambord  would  never  recede 
from  the  position  that  had  been  taken,  he  showed  him- 
self more  Orleanist  than  Legitimist,  and  would  have 
preferred  to  see  either  the  Comte  de  Paris  or  one  of 
the  latter's  uncles  on  the  throne.  But  he  kept  his  pre- 
ferences to  himself  and  waited  on  circumstance. 

Viewed  from  an  outside  standpoint,  the  question  of 
white  or  tricolour  flag  seemed  puerile  and  even  absurd. 
Such  was  the  view  held  by  no  less  a  person  than  Pope 
Pius  IX.  Speaking  in  October  1873  with  Monsieur 
Keller,  one  of  the  Legitimist  General  Changarnier's 
acolytes,  he  said  :  '  So  you  think  you  are  going  to  re- 
establish the  Monarchy.' — '  Yes,  Holy  Father,  we  hope 
and  wish  we  may.'—'  Well !  you  won't.  Usually,  I 
don't  mix  myself   up  in  politics.     But  this  time  the 


THE   PRESIDENCY   OF   MACMAHON     67 

issue  was  so  important  that  I  sent  and  told  the  Comte 
de  Chambord  what  my  ideas  on  the  subject  were.  The 
colour  of  the  flag  is  of  no  great  consequence.  It  was 
with  the  tricolour  flag  the  French  regained  me  Rome. 
You  see  good  things  can  be  done  with  it.  But  the 
Comte  de  Chambord  would  not  believe  me.' 

To  the  Royal  candidate  this  philosophic  indifference 
was  rank  heresy.  For  him  the  tricolour  was  the  omen 
of  misfortune.  Under  its  auspices  two  of  his  forbears 
had  been  chased  from  the  throne  and  one  had  been  put 
to  a  violent  death.  He  had  never  quite  pardoned 
Louis-Philippe  for  accepting  it  in  1830.  Since  he  had 
no  child  and  Louis-Philippe's  son,  the  Comte  de  Paris, 
would  inherit  after  him,  he  laid  down,  as  a  condition 
of  his  own  restoration,  not  only  that  the  banner  of 
Henri  IV  and  Joan  of  Arc  should  be  substituted  for 
the  tricolour  during  his  lifetime,  but  that  it  should  be 
maintained  by  his  successor.  After  much  tergiversa- 
tion, the  Comte  de  Paris  agreed.  Unfortunately,  the 
Royalists  of  the  National  Assembly  were  not  prepared 
to  do  the  same.  They  realized  better  than  the  illus- 
trious exile  did  the  attachment  of  the  nation  and  the 
army  to  this  emblem  of  liberty  and  victory.  In  the 
deadlock  thus  produced,  each  side  hoped  the  other 
would  yield  ;  the  Prince  imagined  his  followers  would 
at  length  come  over  to  his  views,  and  they,  that  he 
would  accept  the  tricolour  banner  with  the  throne. 
Was  it  not  his  ancestor,  Henri  IV,  who  abjured 
Protestantism,  asserting  that  Paris  was  worth  a  mass  ? 

So  the  work  of  preparing  the  country  went  on 
apace.  All  that  was  humanly  possible  was  done  by 
the  Rights  to  render  public  opinion  favourable  to  the 
Restoration.     Everywhere  functionaries  known  or  sus- 


68      THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

pected  to  be  Republicans  were  removed  and  their  posts 
filled  by  partisans  of  either  the  Royalist  or  Imperial 
parties.  The  Republican  Press  was  gagged  in  the 
provinces,  as  in  Paris.  Even  the  Embassies  were 
levelled  up  to  Monarchist  pitch.  From  Bismarck  they 
did  not  meet  with  as  much  sympathy  as  might  have 
been  expected.  Vexed  by  the  change  of  Presidents, 
which  to  him  was  a  step  into  the  dark,  he  refused  to 
acknowledge  the  notification  of  MacMahon's  election, 
until  fresh  letters  of  credit  had  been  accorded  to  the 
French  Ambassador  in  Berlin. 

The  summer  and  autumn  period  of  1873,  for  all  its 
useful  legislation  on  the  army  and  its  amicable  treaties 
made  with  the  neighbouring  Powers,  was  filled  with 
political  ferment.  The  Republicans  were  by  no  means 
discouraged  by  the  measures  taken  against  them,  and 
had  never  been  in  better  fighting  trim.  They  gave 
blow  for  blow.  And  they  were  especially  helped  by 
the  rallying  to  their  side  of  Thiers  himself.  Between 
him  and  Gambetta  the  hatchet  had  been  buried.  The 
two  late  adversaries  had  smoked  the  calumet  of  amity 
and  concord  and  now  stood  shoulder  to  shoulder. 
Every  one  was  aware  that  the  Royalists  were  meditating 
a  blow  at  no  distant  date.  Meetings  and  conferences 
succeeded  each  other  continuously.  On  doubtful  depu- 
ties flattery  and  solicitation  of  every  kind  were  tried. 
Ladies  canvassed ;  social  life  was  turned  topsy-turvy. 
Arithmetical  computations  were  made  and  remade. 
Finally,  it  was  concluded  that  Parliament  might  be 
asked  to  pronounce  upon  the  burning  question,  and 
that  a  small  majority  would  be  obtained  for  the  recall 
of  the  King — if  the  flag  could  be  kept  out  of  sight 
until  he  was  seated  on  the  throne. 


THE   PRESIDENCY   OF   MACMAHON     69 

Meanwhile,  detailed  preparations  were  made  for  the 
Monarch's  official  arrival.  He  was  to  cross  the  eastern 
frontier  in  a  carriage,  and  take  the  train  at  the  nearest 
station.  A  General's  uniform,  with  the  cordon  of  the 
Legion  of  Honour,  and  a  Star  having  in  its  centre  a 
fleur-de-lis  instead  of  the  Imperial  Eagle,  awaited  him 
at  the  house  of  the  Marquis  de  Dreux-Breze.  Gala 
carriages  were  built  by  the  firm  Binder ;  harness  with 
the  Royal  arms  was  made  by  a  saddler  in  the  Rue  Cau- 
martin ;  and  in  the  Rue  Vivienne  could  be  seen  the 
flower-de-luced  carpet  intended  for  the  Royal  carriage, 
while  the  programme  for  the  Royal  entry  specified  the 
itinerary  to  be  taken  along  the  Paris  streets,  which  were 
to  be  adorned  with  white  flags,  cockades,  badges,  and 
Venetian  lanterns  with  the  inscription  :  '  Vive  Henri  V.' 

Amidst  this  fever  of  excitement  a  bomb  suddenly 
burst.  It  was  a  letter  from  the  Count  addressed  to 
one  of  his  faithful  henchmen,  Monsieur  Chesnelong, 
and  published  by  his  orders  in  the  Union  evening 
paper.  In  it  the  Count  expressed  himself  so  cate- 
gorically on  the  very  point  that  his  adherents  wished 
him  to  slur,  that  they  were  thrown  into  confusion  and 
despair.  Thiers  was  jubilant.  On  the  evening  of  the 
publication  he  happened  to  be  holding  a  reception  ;  and, 
after  reading  the  salient  passage  of  the  letter  to  his 
guests,  he  paused  and,  raising  his  eyes  above  his  spec- 
tacles, said  in  his  sliest  tone  :  '  I  should  just  like  to  see 
Pasquier's1  wry  face.' 

On  the  reassembling  of  Parliament,  the  Government, 
realizing  that  something  must  be  done  to  strengthen 
their  position,  and  not  daring,  under  the  circumstances, 
to  take  the  bull  by  the  horns,  and,  of  their  own  initi- 

1  The  Duke  d'Audiffret-Pasquier,  President  of  the  Right  Centres. 


70      THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

ative,  to  substitute  the  Comte  de  Paris  for  his  cousin, 
proposed  that  the  Marshal's  Presidency  should  be 
lengthened  to  ten  years.  While  the  motion  was  being 
discussed,  the  Comte  de  Chambord  arrived  incognito 
at  Versailles.  Only  one  or  two  intimate  friends  knew 
of  his  presence.  It  was  a  bold  stroke,  his  thus  ven- 
turing into  the  Assembly's  head-quarters.  His  idea 
was  that  at  this  critical  juncture  he  might  persuade 
MacMahon  to  introduce  him  either  into  the  Legislative 
Chamber  or  into  the  Satory  Camp  during  a  parade, 
and  that  in  one  or  the  other  case  his  personal  ascend- 
ancy might  secure  his  being  proclaimed  on  his  own 
terms.  He  despatched  a  messenger  to  the  President, 
begging  he  would  come  to  him ;  but,  to  his  bitter 
disappointment,  MacMahon  refused.  Relating  the 
incident  in  his  memoirs,  the  Marshal  says :  '  I  was 
surprised  at  this  step,  which  I  was  far  from  expecting ; 
and  I  replied  that,  entirely  devoted  as  I  was  to  the 
Comte  de  Chambord,  I  should  be  happy  to  sacri- 
fice my  life  for  him,  but  could  not  sacrifice  to  him 
my  honour.'  The  President,  in  fact,  esteemed  that 
the  Government's  recent  proposal,  coming  after  the 
manifesto  in  the  Union,  deprived  him  of  his  liberty 
of  decision,  and  that  he  could  not  act  except  at  their 
order.  He  would  only  promise  that,  whenever  Parlia- 
ment should  declare  itself  plainly  and  unmistakably 
for  the  Monarchy,  he  would  offer  no  obstacle  to  its  re- 
establishment. 

Nothing  was  left  for  the  Count  but  to  sorrowfully 
return  to  his  exile.  He  disappeared  as  quietly  as  he 
had  come,  and  the  Assembly  went  on  with  its  de- 
liberations. The  Due  de  Broglie's  Cabinet  carried  its 
Bill,  yet  in  a  modified  form ;  the  Marshal's  Presidency 


THE   PRESIDENCY   OF   MACMAHON     71 

was  prolonged  for  seven,  not  for  ten  years.  It  was  a 
Pyrrhic  victory,  for  the  Ministry  was  defeated  almost 
immediately  afterwards  ;  and,  when  the  Duke  formed 
a  fresh  one,  he  was  compelled  to  do  so  with  the  aid  of 
more  liberal  men,  chief  amonsf  them  beinsf  the  Due  de 
Decazes,  who,  like  himself,  had  been  Ambassador  to 
London,  and  who  now  returned  to  take  up  the  Foreign 
Office.  Nolens  volens,  the  Assembly  was  being  borne 
under  the  pressure  of  fate  nearer  and  nearer  to  the 
triumph  of  the  Republic. 

The  fact  was  that,  notwithstanding  the  financial 
burden,  the  groping  after  a  new  order  of  things,  and 
the  frequent  alarms  caused  by  Bismarck's  standing  on 
the  other  side  of  the  frontier  with  his  big  stick,  which 
he  raised  threateningly  at  intervals,  the  nation  was  be- 
coming more  prosperous  under  the  new  regime.  Even 
nature  was  clement  in  the  years  immediately  following 
the  war.  Between  1872  and  1877,  the  mean  tempera- 
ture rose  steadily :  harvests  were  plentiful,  the  soil 
yielded  everything  in  abundance,  and  industry  had  its 
share  in  the  flush  of  material  prosperity.  The  land 
was  proving,  as  old  Rabelais  said,  Elisha's  barrel  of  oil 
that  wasted  not.  Moreover,  with  the  light  heart  so 
characteristic  of  their  race,  the  French  people  were 
forgetting  their  troubles  and  were  setting  themselves 
with  zest  to  the  task  of  repairing  their  disasters.  The 
country,  from  one  end  to  the  other,  became  a  humming 
hive,  happy  to  be  able  to  produce  and  save  in  accord- 
ance with  its  temperament.  And,  best  of  all,  the 
appeal  to  all  classes  for  the  payment  of  the  war  debt 
had  created  a  permanent  interest  in  public  affairs  wider 
and  deeper  than  had  previously  been  shown,  since  a 
larger  portion  of  the  population  were  instructed  and 


72      THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

were  in  a  position  to  understand  the  issues  that  were 
being  debated.  Gambetta's  electoral  speeches  had 
fallen  on  fertile  ground,  and  were  bringing  forth  fruit 
thirty-fold,  sixty-fold,  with  promise  of  the  hundred- 
fold. Concurrently  with  this  individual  renascence, 
the  various  administrations  laboured  perhaps  as  they 
had  never  laboured  before.  Public  works  were  under- 
taken in  rail  and  water-ways,  destined  to  provide  more 
rapid  communication  between  the  length  and  breadth 
of  the  territory.  MacMahon  threw  himself  into  the 
work  of  perfecting  the  army  reforms  inaugurated  by 
Thiers,  and  of  providing  additional  defences  for  the 
frontiers  and  the  capital.  East  and  west  and  north 
and  south,  fortresses  and  fortified  camps  sprang  up  as  if 
by  magic.  The  result  was  not  always  equal  to  the 
design,  but  what  was  attained  reassured  the  country. 

In  Parliament,  the  great  preoccupation  was  still  the 
elaboration  of  a  proper  Constitution.  What  existed  so 
far  was  merely  provisory.  The  Government,  though 
tinged  with  Liberalism,  were  anxious  that  a  reform  of 
the  suffrage  should  accompany  and  precede  legislation 
on  their  own  attributes.  The  Due  de  Broglie  and  his 
colleagues  wished  to  limit  the  franchise  so  as  to  balance 
the  influence  of  number  by  giving  a  larger  vote  to  the 
representation  of  interests.  Their  Bill  made  the  middle 
classes  the  predominating  factor  in  elections.  Opposed 
by  the  extreme  Rights  and  by  the  Lefts  of  most 
shades,  the  project  was  thrown  out  and  the  Ministry 
resigned.  It  was  a  revenge  for  Thiers,  and  a  mistake 
on  the  part  of  the  Monarchists,  who  indeed  lost  an 
opportunity  they  never  found  again.  As  Gambetta 
said  :  '  If  the  Rights  had  had  common  sense  enough  to 
vote  the  Bill,  the  democracy's  advent  to  power  would 


■ 


m* 


■**(** 


m 


i    }. 


#  . 


.*«*» 


OPENING     OF     THE     NEW     OPERA     HOUSE     IN     PARIS 
I'r»m  the  Picture  bv  DETAILLE 


THE   PRESIDENCY   OF   MACMAHON     73 

have  been  delayed  for  fifty  years.'  And  he  was  near 
the  mark. 

Each  change  of  Ministers  in  these  times  of  rapid 
political  evolution  made  fresh  converts  to  the  demo- 
cratic cause.  The  next  Cabinet  was  hardly  organized 
under  General  Cissey  when  the  Comte  d'Haussonville 
broke  with  the  extreme  Rights  by  pronouncing  himself 
in  favour  of  the  wider  suffrage ;  and,  a  month  or  two 
later,  this  electoral  basis  was  confirmed  by  the  As- 
sembly. Like  the  echo  of  a  receding  voice  came  the 
Comte  de  Chambord's  protest  in  the  Union  against 
the  confirmation  of  an  order  of  things  that  rele- 
gated the  old  dogma  of  his  family's  privileges  to 
limbo. 

1 1  am  willing,'  he  wrote,  '  to  seek,  in  the  nation's 
representatives,  vigilant  helpers  for  the  examination  of 
questions  submitted  to  its  control ;  but  I  spurn  this 
article  of  foreign  importation,  which  is  incompatible 
with  our  national  traditions — a  king  that  reigns  but 
does  not  govern.' 

Owing  to  the  prosecution  of  the  newspaper  which 
had  published  this  document,  an  important  debate  was 
raised  in  the  Assembly—'  one  of  the  gravest  and  most 
moving  ever  held,'  said  Mr.  Washburn's  letter  to  the 
United  States  Government.  'It  was  the  drama  of 
Hamlet  without  Hamlet.' 

Fourtou,  the  Minister  of  the  Interior,  spoke  of  the 
Comte  de  Chambord  as  a  person  !!  extremely  honour- 
able, but  one  that  must  submit  to  the  common  law. 
It  was  the  very  thing  the  Prctendant  would  not  do ; 
and,  for  this  reason,  he  was  being  eliminated.  One 
hundred  and  fifty-eight  by-elections  in  three  years  had 
returned    one    hundred    and    twenty-six    Republicans 


74      THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

to    Parliament.     All  save  the  blindest  Royalists  saw 
whither  the  country  was  tending. 

Playing  a  somewhat  secondary  role  in  Parliamentary 
life,  since  he  was  not  allowed  to  speak  in  the  tribune — 
the  experiment  with  Thiers  had  sufficed — MacMahon, 
the  good-humoured,  affable  President,  made  up  for 
the  exclusion  of  his  voice  by  writing  messages  to  the 
Assembly  on  other  than  official  occasions.  For  the 
rest,  he  was  prompt  in  the  performance  of  his  public 
duties.  At  the  Cabinet's  request,  he  endeavoured  to 
imitate  M  onsieur  Thiers'  triumphal  processions  through- 
out France,  and  passed  over  the  whole  north  and 
west.  He  was  well  received,  yet  without  enthusiasm. 
The  population  suspected  him,  and  with  some  reason, 
of  lending  his  authority  to  what  they  considered  retro- 
grade doctrines.  Not  that  he  was  a  mere  instrument 
in  the  hands  of  the  Rights.  He  had  his  own  ideas  of 
independence.  In  a  reception  at  Saint  Malo,  he  said 
with  his  habitual  brusqueric  to  the  President  of  the 
Tribunal  of  Commerce  :  '  You  remarked  just  now  that 
there  was  no  real  government.  That  is  not  so.  There 
is  mine.' 

The  country  had  a  government,  it  was  true — a  too 
harsh  one  even,  since  the  state  of  siege  was  still  main- 
tained in  the  parts  of  France  that  had  been  occupied  by 
the  enemy,  although  the  enemy  was  no  longer  there. 
What  the  country  had  not  was  a  definite  Constitution. 
The  Republic  was  not  yet  legally  consecrated.  Such  a 
Constitution  the  Marshal  honestly  desired  to  see  estab- 
lished. Indeed,  but  for  his  insistence  it  is  probable  that 
the  Restorationists,  haunted  ever  by  their  dream  of  the 
impossible,  would  have  kept  on  procrastinating  until 
their  majority  had  dwindled  down  to  the  odd  man. 


THE   PRESIDENCY   OF   MACMAHON     75 

The  Constitution,  ultimately  voted  on  the  25th  of 
February,  1875,  created  two  Legislative  Chambers :  a 
Senate  of  three  hundred  members  elected  by  the 
Councils  General  for  nine  years  and  renewable  by 
thirds  every  three  years,  and  a  Lower  House  elected 
for  four  years  by  universal  suffrage.  It  also  created  a 
President  of  the  Republic  by  name,  elected  for  seven 
years  by  the  members  of  the  two  Chambers. 

To  this  triumph  the  doughty  champions  of  the  Lefts 
had  contributed  largely,  and  none  more  than  Gambetta, 
whose  oratory  during  the  discussions  electrified  his 
audience. 

Curiously,  the  Marshal  thought  that  for  a  fresh  state 
of  affairs  a  new  manner  was  necessary.  Under  his  old 
title  he  had  preserved  tolerable  neutrality  in  political 
matters.  As  de  jure  President  of  the  Republic,  he 
believed  himself  called  upon  to  stem  the  tide  of 
Radicalism.  '  Add  to  this  that,  in  the  composition  of 
his  new  Cabinet,  he  encroached  upon  the  Prime 
Minister's  prerogative  of  choice — with  the  best  in- 
tentions— and  the  result  may  be  imagined.  Monsieur 
Buffet,  a  Bonapartist,  deemed  the  Marshal  was  out- 
heroding  Herod. 

In  obstinacy,  however,  Monsieur  Buffet  was  about 
the  Marshal's  match.  He  is  credited  with  saying : 
'  I  will  yield  in  nothing.  I  will  compromise  in  nothing  ; 
and  even  though  my  eighty-six  prefects  were  to  die,  I 
would  not  change  one.  At  most,  1  would  make  a 
couple  of  permutations.'  Fortunately,  the  National 
Assembly's  days  were  numbered.  A  year  after  the 
vote  of  the  Constitution,  it  disappeared  to  make  room 
for  the  Chambers.  Judged  impartially,  and  allowances 
made  for  the  inevitable  strife  of  its  rival  factions,  praise 


76      THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

may  be  assigned  to  it  for  having  safely  conducted  the 
business  of  the  nation  through  a  period  of  unparalleled 
difficulty  and  danger.  Many  useful  measures  issued 
from  its  deliberations,  in  education,  finance,  criminal 
reform  and  the  protection  of  the  young ;  and,  if  the 
trail  of  intolerance  left  its  mark  on  much  that  was 
done,  it  was  a  blemish  that  is  rarely  absent  from  legis- 
lation at  any  time  and  in  any  place.  The  worst  that 
can  be  said  of  it  is  that  it  outlived  its  usefulness.  And 
not  a  few  Parliaments  do  the  same. 

It  was  during  the  last  year  of  the  Assembly's  ex- 
istence that  the  great  scare  happened  which  seemed 
for  a  moment  likely  to  be  justified  by  a  repetition  of 
the  events  of  1870.  Alarmed  or  affecting  to  be 
alarmed  by  the  continuous,  steady  improvement  in  the 
financial  and  military  situation  of  France,  the  German 
Chancellor,  who  had  already  more  than  once  hinted  to 
the  French  Government  that  their  policy  did  not  seem 
to  him  calculated  to  further  the  cause  of  peace,  inspired 
an  article — or  at  least  countenanced  it — published  in 
the  semi-official  Post,  which  was  entitled  '  The  War 
in  Perspective.'  The  writer  asserted  that  if  any  alliance 
were  formed  between  France,  Austria  and  Italy,  the 
Germans  would  at  once  take  the  field.  Marshal 
MacMahon,  it  said,  was  desirous  of  attacking  Germany 
before  the  expiration  of  the  Assembly's  powers,  so  as, 
if  possible,  to  facilitate  the  return  of  the  Monarchy 
after  a  triumph  of  the  French  Army. 

The  article  aroused  much  comment ;  and  there  was 
a  subsequent  exchange  of  views  on  the  subject  between 
the  German  and  the  French  Foreign  Offices,  which, 
however,  did  little  towards  allaying  the  general  feeling 
of  anxiety.     While  things  were  in  this  state,  excite- 


THE    PRESIDENCY   OF   MACMAHON     77 

ment  was  suddenly  raised  to  fever  pitch  by  the  publi- 
cation in  the  London  Times  of  an  article  by  Mr. 
de  Blowitz,  that  journal's  Paris  correspondent,  con- 
densing the  opinions  he  had  gleaned  either  from 
German  diplomatists  or  from  German  newspapers. 
These  opinions  agreed  in  saying  that  Germany  had 
made  a  bad  bargain  in  1870,  and,  since  France  was 
evidently  meditating  revenge,  must  hasten  to  declare 
war,  march  straight  on  Paris,  and,  from  the  vantage 
ground  of  the  plateau  of  Avron,  dictate  a  fresh  treaty 
forcing  France  to  cease  her  armaments  and  to  pay 
a  war  indemnity  of  ten  milliards.  One  Power  alone 
could  prevent  this  being  done,  to  wit,  Russia  ;  and  the 
Czar's  approaching  visit  to  Berlin  appeared  to  be  the 
pivot  on  which  the  question  of  peace  or  war  would 
turn. 

What  Mr.  Blowitz  divulged  in  this  way  produced  an 
immense  sensation  both  in  England  and  abroad.  The 
British  Cabinet  under  Mr.  Disraeli  was  moved  to  take 
action.  The  Queen  even  wrote  to  the  Emperor 
William ;  and,  within  a  short  time,  such  a  chorus  of 
international  condemnation  was  heard  that,  however 
Bismarck  might  have  been  intending  to  act,  he  was  now 
compelled  to  declare  that  Germany  had  no  thought  of 
making  a  war  of  aggression  on  France.  In  the  Euro- 
pean influence  thus  brought  to  bear  on  Berlin,  that  of 
the  Czar  was  no  less  favourable  to  France  than 
England's.  To  him  and  to  the  British  Government. 
Monsieur  Buffet 's  Cabinet  expressed  its  gratitude  for 
their  timely  interference,  which,  notwithstanding  the 
Chancellor's  denials,  would  appear  to  have  been  very 
necessary. 

A  good  opening  was  made  by  the  first  Republican 


78      THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

Cabinet  with  Monsieur  Dufaure  at  its  head,  supported 
by  a  majority  of  over  two  hundred,  and  with  Monsieur 
Jules  Grevy  as  the  Chairman  of  the  Lower  Chamber. 
And  the  favourable  impression  was  increased  by  a  decree 
of  the  Marshal's,  abolishing  any  further  prosecutions 
arising  out  of  the  Commune,  after  an  Amnesty  Bill 
had  been  defended  by  Raspail  and  Clemenceau  in  the 
Deputies  and  by  Victor  Hugo  in  the  Senate,  which 
latter  had  rejected  it.  But  this  spring  sky  was  soon 
clouded  over  through  the  action  of  the  Conscript 
fathers,  in  whose  bosom  had  taken  refuge  the 
ultra-conservative  elements  that  had  produced  such 
discord  in  the  National  Assembly.  At  the  same 
time,  an  Ultramontane  movement  of  the  Clericals 
made  itself  felt  in  the  Parliamentary  midst,  with  intent 
to  subordinate  the  national  clergy  to  orders  received 
from  Rome,  and  infeodate  both  Church  and  laity  to 
Papal  interests.  During  Monsieur  Dufaure' s  nine 
months'  ministry,  MacMahon's  pressure  on  the  Cabinet 
was  carefully  concealed,  the  Prime  Minister  being  as 
much  opposed  as  the  President  to  the  demands  of  the 
Radicals.  The  only  inkling  that  got  abroad  was 
through  Monsieur  de  Blowitz,  who  telegraphed  it  to  the 
Times.  But  when  Dufaure  was  forced  by  the  Chamber 
to  resign,  and  Jules  Simon  was  reluctantly  accepted  by 
the  Marshal  as  his  successor,  the  struggle  between  the 
Lower  and  Upper  Chamber  became  one  of  life  and 
death.  Attacked  by  the  Bishops  openly,  and  under- 
mined by  their  creatures  who  were  constantly  working 
on  the  President's  mind,  Monsieur  Jules  Simon  re- 
mained in  office  barely  half  as  long  as  his  predecessor. 
MacMahon  was  now  fully  launched  on  his  rash 
enterprise  of  schooling  the  Republican  majority,  and 


THE   PRESIDENCY   OF   MACMAHON     79 

bringing  its  members  to  a  humbler  behaviour.  Two 
Bills  were  before  Parliament,  one  on  municipal  organi- 
zation, the  other  tending  to  the  abrogation  of  the  1875 
law  concerning  Press  offences.  To  each  of  these,  at 
the  instigation  of  the  Pope  and  clergy,  the  Marshal 
was  opposed.  The  Papal  Nuncio  had  even  informed 
the  President  that  the  Vatican  was  determined  to  break 
off  relations  with  France,  if  Monsieur  Jules  Simon 
remained  Prime  Minister.  Both  MacMahon  and 
Jules  Simon  were  in  a  difficult  position.  Mutually 
they  esteemed  each  other. 

'  What  a  misfortune,'  said  the  former  to  the  latter 
one  day,  '  that  you  persist  in  governing  with  the 
Chamber.  If  only  you  would  consent  to  do  without 
it,  affairs  would  go  on  better,  and  I  would  keep  you 
Minister  as  long  as  I  remain  President.' 

'  I  am  a  Republican,'  replied  Jules  Simon.  '  I  govern 
with  Parliament  and  with  my  party.  Otherwise  I 
should  not  be  here.' 

'  I  know  it,'  said  the  Marshal.     '  It  is  unfortunate.' 

The  Prime  Minister  did  his  best  to  keep  the  Presi- 
dent's person  out  of  the  Chamber's  debates ;  and,  on 
the  4th  of  May,  in  reply  to  an  attack,  said  : 

'  As  I  have  had  the  honour  to  sit  for  five  months  in 
the  councils  of  the  Government,  I  cannot  help  telling 
the  Chamber  that  the  deep  respect  I  have  always  pro- 
fessed, in  spite  of  political  differences,  towards  the 
Marshal-President's  character,  has  constantly  increased 
since  I  have  had  the  honour  of  closer  acquaintance 
with  him,  and  I  seize  the  opportunity  offered  to  me  of 
saying  how  much  I  respectfully  admire  his  political 
conduct.' 

In  spite  of  this  courteous  deference,  the  President 


80      THE   THIRD   FRENCH    REPUBLIC 

addressed  to  him  on  the  16th  of  May,  after  the  abro- 
gation of  the  law  concerning  the  Press  had  been  voted 
by  an  enormous  majority,  an  impertinent  letter  which 
left  him  no  alternative  but  to  retire,  unless  he  com- 
menced an  open  struggle  with  the  Elysee. 

This  done,  MacMahon  chose,  in  the  teeth  of  the 
Chamber,  the  Due  de  Broglie,  of  all  men,  to  constitute 
another  Cabinet.  And  adding  insult  to  injury,  he 
spoke  in  his  Presidential  message  of  the  majority's 
subversive  ideas,  asserting  that  the  nation  thought  as 
he  did.  He  was  soon  to  receive  a  flat  contradiction. 
Every  one  saw  that  an  appeal  to  the  country  was 
imminent ;  and  such,  in  fact,  was  the  Marshal's  inten- 
tion. In  order  that  the  people  might  be  induced  to 
vote  as  they  were  desired,  an  electoral  machinery  was 
installed  in  all  the  constituencies  for  the  purpose  of 
converting  the  voters ;  and  the  whole  prefectoral 
administration  was  modified. 

Then  Parliament  was  dissolved.  The  elections,  how- 
ever, were  put  off  to  the  latest  date  possible,  bribery 
being  practised  in  the  meantime  without  shame  or 
restraint.  As  Edmond  About  remarked  :  '  The  master- 
piece of  the  Broglie  Cabinet  was  to  have  concentrated 
in  five  months  all  the  arbitrary  exercise  of  power  that 
the  Imperial  despotism  exercised  in  eighteen  years.' 
The  Marshal  flung  himself  into  the  fray  with  the  same 
impetuosity  that  he  had  formerly  shown  in  his  military 
campaigns,  urging  the  army  and  the  people  to  give 
him  the  victory.  He  stumped  the  country  even,  but. 
as  often  as  not,  obtained  hisses  instead  of  cheers. 

In  the  middle  of  the  fight  Thiers  died.  He  had 
been  preparing  to  join  forces  with  Gambetta  when  his 
end  came.     His  funeral  was  perhaps  the  most  silently 


THE   PRESIDENCY   OF   MACMAHON     81 

grandiose  manifestation  of  mourning  France  has  ever 
seen.  No  one  talked,  no  one  smoked  in  the  vast  concourse 
of  spectators.  Only  an  occasional  cr}^  of  Vive  la  Repub- 
liquc  burst  from  choking  breasts.  Even  in  his  death 
Thiers  was  useful  to  the  cause  of  the  people  he  had 
served  faithfully  if  not  always  wisely.  The  memory  of 
his  achievement,  thus  revived,  acted  as  a  stimulant  upon 
the  nation  at  large.  When  they  voted,  there  was  more 
of  his  influence  in  the  urns  than  of  MacMahon's. 

The  Marshal  published  a  declaration  in  September, 
1877,  quite  in  the  military  style :  '  My  Government,' 
he  said,  '  will  designate  to  you  among  the  candidates 
those  who  alone  may  make  use  of  my  name.'  A 
second  one  in  October  went  further :  '  The  struggle 
is  between  order  and  disorder,'  he  said ;  '  you  will 
vote  for  the  candidates  I  recommend.'  Neither 
Charles  X  nor  Louis  Napoleon  had  spoken  so  peremp- 
torily. And  yet  when  the  results  were  totalled,  the 
majority  of  more  than  a  hundred  on  which  the  Govern- 
ment had  counted  was  found  to  be  on  the  side  of  the 
Republican  Lefts.  The  reign  of  reaction  was  over. 
At  last  the  President  understood,  or  nearly  so.  He 
would  have  been  glad  to  resign,  himself,  but  was  per- 
suaded to  remain  at  his  post.  After  trying  one  or  two 
patchwork  combinations  and  uprightly  refusing  some 
insidious  suggestions  that  he  should  hazard  a  coup 
d'etat,  he  gave  Monsieur  Dufaure  practically  carte 
blanche;  and  the  year  of  the  1878  Exhibition  was 
inaugurated  with  a  Ministry  fairly  representing  the 
nation's  opinions. 

In  the  last  year  of  his  Presidency,  the  Marshal 
recovered  the  dignity  which  his  Don  Quixottish  tilting 
on  behalf  of  a  doomed  exclusiveness  had  caused  him 


82      THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

to  lose.  He  even  seconded  the  Ministry's  efforts  to 
banish  politics  from  the  army.  At  the  fetes  held  in 
the  Elysee  at  his  own  expense  during  the  Exhibition, 
he  pleased  both  Republicans  and  Monarchists  by  his 
bearing  and  the  good  taste  of  his  display.  Similarly, 
at  the  close,  he  managed  to  strike  a  key  that  rendered 
his  language  harmonious,  when  he  spoke  of  the  country's 
renascent  prosperity  and  invited  all  to  join  in  a  common 
devotion  to  the  public  weal.  Although  not  a  financial 
success,  costing  as  it  did  some  fifty-five  millions  of 
francs  and  gaining  only  seventeen  and  a  half,  this 
World's  Fair  was  in  every  other  respect  a  good  asset 
in  the  nation's  credit.  It  raised  public  confidence  to 
high-water  mark,  restored  the  people's  self-esteem, 
and,  for  the  first  time  since  the  war,  brought  foreigners 
in  large  crowds  to  the  capital.  One  of  its  monuments 
remained  after  the  close  and  still  exists  as  a  souvenir — 
the  Trocadero,  now  a  museum  of  comparative  archi- 
tecture and  a  meeting-place  for  large  concourses  of  the 
public. 

There  was  one  man  whom  MacMahon  could  not  for- 
give, the  acknowledged  chief  of  the  Republican  Lefts, 
Gambetta,  whose  popularity  had  been  steadily  growing 
and  was  now  immense  throughout  France.  It  was  to 
him  he  owed  his  defeat,  and  he  remembered  it.  Not 
once  was  the  leader  of  the  modern  democracy  invited 
to  the  Elysee  in  all  the  receptions  of  the  festal  year. 
However,  Gambetta  was  worthy  of  some  attention. 
It  was  he  who  had  kept  the  nation's  courage  from  sink- 
ing during  the  years  of  humiliation ;  he  who,  while 
standing  aside  for  other  ambitions  to  pass  in  front,  had 
refused  no  labour,  in  or  out  of  Parliament,  requiring 
self-sacrifice.     Acquainting  himself  with  every  detail 


THE   PRESIDENCY   OF   MACMAHON     83 

in  the  various  governmental  departments,  he  was  always 
able  to  advise  with  authority  in  technical  difficulties  of 
whatsoever  kind.  He  had  been  and  was  still  an  agitator, 
but  of  the  most  honest  sort,  speaking  as  he  thought  in 
the  open,  and  despising  all  intrigue.  And,  as  he  grew 
older,  his  mind  became  chastened,  his  expression  became 
cautious.     The  demagogue  evolved  into  the  statesman. 

At  present,  it  was  the  turn  of  the  Senate  to  be 
affected  by  the  new  social  stratum.  Although  protected 
by  a  suffrage  of  the  second  degree,  the  same  change 
that  had  come  about  in  the  composition  of  the  Depu- 
ties began  to  occur  in  that  of  its  own  body.  At  the 
elections  held  in  January,  1879,  to  replace  a  retiring 
third  of  its  members,  sixty-six  out  of  eighty-two 
seats  were  captured  by  the  Republicans,  who  thus  con- 
verted their  minority  into  a  majority  of  between  forty 
and  fifty.  The  almost  immediate  consequence  was  to 
enable  the  two  Chambers  to  adopt  a  resolution  calling 
on  the  Government  to  dismiss  those  functionaries  who 
had  made  an  illegal  use  of  their  powers  in  the  1877 
elections.  There  was  even  talk  of  impeaching  certain 
ministers.  The  Cabinet  obeyed  the  injunction  and  the 
work  of  revocation  began.  Being  invited  to  counter- 
sign each  list  of  those  condemned,  the  Marshal  sub- 
mitted, until  the  names  of  some  favourite  Generals 
were  handed  him,  among  them  those  of  Bourbaki  and 
Du  Barail.  These  he  refused  to  give  up,  and  he  was 
right.  Had  he  consented,  he  would  have  punished 
soldiers  who  had  simply  obeyed  his  own  orders — the 
orders  of  their  hiearchical  superior.  'If  I  were  to 
sign,'  he  said,  '  I  should  not  dare  to  kiss  my  children 
after.' 

Instead,  he  did  the  only  thing  that  was  left  for  one 


84      THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

as  loyal  as  himself  to  do.  He  resigned  the  Presidency. 
During  his  Septennat.  his  position  had  been  a  curious 
one.  On  the  one  hand,  he  was  played  upon  by  the 
Extreme  Rights  ;  and,  his  personal  sympathies  being 
with  the  Monarchy,  had  done  what  was  in  his  power 
to  render  the  Restoration  possible.  On  the  other  hand, 
being  inaccessible  to  intrigue,  he  had  opposed  any  step 
that  was  not  outwardly  constitutional,  so  that,  in  a 
different  way,  he  continued  the  policy  of  Thiers  and 
favoured  the  Republic. 

At  first,  the  people  came  to  the  new  order  of  things 
through  distrust  of  the  old.  They  had  suffered  too 
much  from  the  war  and  its  consequences  to  readily 
return  to  a  one-man  rule.  The  slower  methods  of 
collective  legislation  seemed  to  them  the  safer.  And 
then  there  were  certain  intellectual  agencies  in  opera- 
tion which  contributed  to  confirm  them  in  this  faith. 
One  of  these  was  Freemasonry,  recently  reorganized. 
Under  the  Empire,  it  had  been  used  as  a  support  of  the 
Imperial  administration.  Prince  Murat,  Marshal  Mag- 
nan,  and  General  Mellinet  had  been  in  succession  its 
Grand  Masters.  But  this  function  was  abolished  in 
1869,  and  replaced  by  an  annual  presidency.  A  few 
years  earlier,  in  1865,  all  declarations  of  creed  had 
disappeared  from  its  rites  and  ceremonies ;  and.  after 
1871,  its  action  turned  more  in  the  direction  of  free 
thought  and  sociology,  while  political  and  educational 
questions  became  its  chief  preoccupation.  These 
changes  were  clearly  manifested  in  1875,  when  Littre 
and  Jules  Ferry  were  received  into  a  Masonic  Lodge. 
At  his  initiation,  the  former  put  forward  an  explanation 
of  his  Positivist  doctrine,  which  Jules  Ferry  accepted  : 
and,  on  the  same  occasion,  Louis  Blanc  and  Gambetta, 


THE   PRESIDENCY   OF   MACMAHON     85 

who  were  also  members,  made  up  the  quarrel  which 
had  separated  them  in  the  discussion  of  the  Republican 
Constitutional  Laws. 

Allusion  has  already  been  made  to  the  renascence  of 
prosperity  in  the  nation  within  a  year  or  two  after  the 
war.  This  improvement  was  maintained  throughout 
the  decade.  Manufactured  cotton  tissues,  which  at 
the  end  of  the  Empire  amounted  to  124,331,000 
kilograms,  increased  until,  in  1876,  the  numbers  were 
157,859,000.  The  importation  of  wool  for  home  con- 
sumption went  up  between  18G9  and  1880  from 
108,000,000  kilograms  to  151,000,000,  while  the  ex- 
portation of  woollen  tissues  between  1869  and  1876 
swelled  from  262,000,000  kilograms  to  317,000,000. 
By  1880,  the  Post  Office  had  raised  its  deliveries 
from  357,000,000  letters  (in  1869)  to  no  fewer  than 
530,000,000 ;  and.  in  the  same  interval,  articles  of 
special  commerce  increased  their  import  and  export 
value  from  6,228,000,000  francs  to  8,601,000,000. 

The  loss  of  Alsace-Lorraine  deprived  the  country  of 
a  portion  of  its  mineral  wealth ;  and  yet  the  output 
which,  in  1869,  including  these  provinces,  was  worth 
156,000,000  francs,  rose  in  value  within  five  years  to 
270,000,000 ;  and  proportionate  augmentations  ap- 
peared both  in  the  pig-iron  and  wrought-metal  in- 
dustries. Before  the  end  of  the  decade,  the  length  of 
the  country's  railways  had  been  extended  by  more  than 
6000  kilometres  ;  in  navigation  the  tonnage  showed  an 
addition  of  nearly  a  million  tons ;  and  the  trade  of  the 
various  ports  was  more  than  doubled,  passing  from 
6,034,000  tons  to  13,322,000.  Parallel  to  the  rise 
revealed  by  these  figures  was  that  in  the  receipts  of 
the  Savings  Banks,  which,  in  the  ten  years  ending  with 


86       THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

1880,  passed  from  711,000,000  francs  to  1,280,000,000. 
The  contrast  is  just  as  striking,  if  the  last  budget  of 
Napoleon  the  Third's  reign  is  compared  with  the  one 
of  1880.  The  receipts  of  the  former  were  1,961,000,000 
francs  and  the  expenditure  was  1,904,000,000 ;  the 
receipts  of  the  latter  were  3,530,000,000  francs  and 
the  expenditure  3,364,000,000.  All  through  the  Sep- 
tennat,  the  lesson  of  these  statistics  was  being  read, 
marked  and  inwardly  digested  by  the  people  whom 
they  concerned  ;  and,  in  the  dwindling  numbers  of  the 
Assembly's  reactionary  members  and  the  consequent 
gain  of  the  several  Republican  parties,  the  conclusions 
drawn  were  seen. 


PRESIDENT     GREW 
From  a  Photograph  by  PIERRE  PETIT 


THE    PRESIDENCY    OF  JULES   GREW 

With  the  abdication  of  Marshal  MacMahon,  the 
Presidency  of  the  Republic  lost  its  pretensions  to 
dictatorship,  which  Thiers  had  exercised  by  the  force 
of  circumstances,  and  his  successor  partly  by  imitation 
and  partly  by  a  trick  of  his  trade.  Jules  Grevy's 
advent  to  the  office  inaugurated  a  state  of  things  that 
reduced  the  President's  role  to  an  action  much  more 
limited,  played  chiefly  behind  the  scenes,  and  that  con- 
ferred a  corresponding  increase  of  power  and  responsi- 
bility on  the  Cabinet  and  its  head. 

Born  in  1807,  Monsieur  Grcvy  had  adopted  law  as  a 
profession,  and  gained  a  solid  reputation  at  the  Bar  in 
a  practice  of  over  forty  years.  His  first  experience  of 
political  life  was  during  the  short  Republic  of  1848, 
when  he  belonged  to  the  Constituent  Assembly. 
Under  the  Empire  he  was  forced  by  his  opinions  to 
hold  aloof  from  public  affairs  ;  however,  towards  the 
end  of  the  sixties,  the  electors  of  his  native  Jura  sent 
him  to  represent  them  in  the  Chamber  of  Deputies. 
When  the  war  broke  out,  he  retired  to  Tours,  and 
stayed  there  until  he  was  returned  as  one  of  the 
members  of  the  National  Assembly.  Chosen  almost 
unanimously  by  his  colleagues  to  preside  over  their 
deliberations,  he  proved  himself  to  be  a  model  chair- 
man,   his    imperturbable    coolness   and    self-command 

87 


88      THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

enabling  him  to  dominate  even  the  most  tumultuous 
sittings,  while  his  tact,  impartiality  and  sound  judg- 
ment procured  him  the  respect  of  all  parties.  His 
oratory  was  characterized  by  force,  soberness  and 
coherence.  Thiers,  who  was  a  good  appraiser  of 
eloquence,  said  of  a  speech  of  his  made  when  the 
question  of  the  '  Septennat '  was  being  debated  :  '  It  is 
the  finest  and  most  powerful  I  have  ever  listened  to  in 
the  forty  years  I  have  been  in  Parliament.'  On  the 
dissolution  of  the  National  Assembly,  he  was  again 
chosen  to  preside  over  the  Lower  of  the  two  Chambers 
that  replaced  it,  and  continued  in  this  position  until  he 
was  raised  to  the  higher  functions. 

Somewhat  plain  in  its  general  aspect,  his  face  was 
set  in  a  frame  of  closely  clipped  beard  and  whisker 
that  left  chin  and  mouth  bare,  while  towards  the  top 
of  his  head  the  hair  thinned  off  to  baldness.  The 
stolidness  of  his  features  was  matched  by  the  im- 
passibility and  coldness  of  his  manners.  Of  decision, 
as  of  prudence  and  moderation,  he  had  his  full  share. 
No  sooner  was  he  in  possession  of  his  Presidential 
dignity  than  he  went  straight  to  the  Elysee  in  Paris 
and  took  up  his  residence  there,  doing  this  on  his  own 
initiative,  although  the  Legislature  continued  for  some 
months  longer  to  sit  at  Versailles.  The  profound 
knowledge  he  had  acquired  of  the  political  world, 
allied  to  his  own  qualities,  enabled  him  to  use  his 
attributions  on  the  whole  wisely ;  but  his  mental 
horizon  was  not  a  wide  one ;  and  new  men  and 
modern  ideas  inspired  a  certain  amount  of  distrust  in 
him,  with  the  consequence  that  he  occasionally  allowed 
his  prejudices  to  guide  him.  This  was  especially  seen 
in  his   treatment   of  Gambetta.     His  parsimony  and 


THE  PRESIDENCY  OF  JULES  GREVY     89 

nepotism  were  later  revelations.  For  the  moment, 
his  virtues  showed  in  the  foreground,  and  caused  the 
honour  done  him  by  his  fellow-countrymen  to  be  well 
received  both  in  France  and  abroad. 

Being  renewed  at  the  end  of  its  period,  his  Presi- 
dency lasted  for  nine  years,  and  was  the  longest  in  the 
Third  Republic's  annals.  In  the  interval,  there  were 
no  fewer  than  eleven  Ministries,  three  of  de  Freycinet, 
two  of  Jules  Ferry,  the  others  of  Waddington,  Gam- 
betta,  Fallieres,  Brisson,  Goblet  and  Rouvier.  These 
ephemeral  Cabinets  were  mainly  due  to  the  divisions  of 
the  Republicans  themselves,  which  rendered  their  ma- 
jority unstable.  To  some  extent  also,  Monsieur  Grevy's 
bias  favoured  the  see-saw.  Sympathizing  rather  with 
the  Extreme  Lefts,  who  were  the  minority,  he  did  not 
always  trouble  himself  to  seek  among  the  Moderates 
combinations  that  might  have  been  more  capable  of 
resistance. 

The  worst  effects  of  such  frequent  changes  in  the 
Government  were  seen  in  the  country's  foreign  policy, 
in  which  mistakes  were  made  that  no  after-efforts  could 
altogether  repair.  In  home  affairs  the  drawbacks  were 
less  serious,  though  felt.  However  divided  in  their 
aims,  the  various  fractions  of  the  Republican  party  co- 
operated easily  enough  in  matters  of  immediate  prac- 
tical benefit.  Besides  continuing  the  improvement  of 
university  and  school  education,  they  restored  the 
liberty  of  the  Press,  gave  a  measure  of  decentralization 
to  municipal  life,  legalized  the  existence  of  professional 
and  trade  syndicates,  conferred  on  the  public  the  right 
to  assemble  freely,  introduced  divorce  once  more  into 
the  marriage  code,  and  reformed  the  assessment  of 
taxes. 


90      THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

As  a  gift  of  joyeux  avmement,  the  year  1879  brought 
with  it  a  partial  amnesty  of  the  imprisoned  Communists. 
Louis  Blanc  and  Victor  Hugo  tried  to  obtain  a  com- 
plete measure ;  and,  perhaps,  this  would  have  been  the 
more  graceful  act,  especially  since  no  possible  danger 
could  have  accrued  to  the  State  from  its  being  ac- 
corded ;  but  the  animosities  on  either  side  were  not  yet 
sufficiently  appeased  for  the  larger  clemency.  Some 
twelve  hundred  out  of  thirteen  thousand  condemned 
still  remained  in  confinement  or  banishment.  In  the 
capital,  subscriptions  and  committees  were  organized  to 
provide  the  returning  exiles  with  funds ;  and  a  literary 
matinee  was  given  at  the  Theatre  Historique,  on  the 
28th  of  May,  for  the  same  purpose,  with  the  two 
Coquelins  and  Mounet- Sully  among  the  performers. 
The  Town  Council  voted  a  hundred  thousand  francs, 
and  altogether  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
were  collected.  Paris  thus  set  the  example  in  a  laud- 
able attempt  to  heal  up  old  sores. 

The  first  Cabinet,  that  of  Monsieur  Waddington, 
was  overweighted  by  men  of  stronger  calibre  than  the 
Prime  Minister.  Jules  Ferry,  who  was  at  the  Educa- 
tion Department,  had  taken  up  Gambetta's  cry, 
'  Clericalism  is  the  enemy ' ;  and  introduced  into  the 
Education  Bill  that  he  had  elaborated  a  clause  which 
excluded  the  Jesuits  from  teaching.  There  was  ground 
for  this  in  the  fact  that  the  Jesuits,  in  France  especially, 
had  always  aimed  at  crushing  all  independent  thought 
and  enslaving  the  nation  to  their  Order  ;  nor  could  they 
logically  complain  if  their  arms  were  turned  against 
them.  Yet,  as  Paul  Bert,  himself  a  free-thinker,  argued 
in  the  debates,  it  would  have  been  more  consistent  with 
the  principles  of  liberty  to  use  different  weapons  at 


THE  PRESIDENCY  OF  JULES  GREVY     91 

this  moment  in  combating  their  influence.  Ill  sup- 
ported by  the  majority  of  the  Chamber,  and  obliged  at 
times  to  depend  on  the  Rights,  Monsieur  Waddington 
resigned  in  December.  A  few  months  previously,  the 
Bonapartists  had  suffered  a  great  disappointment 
through  the  death  of  the  Prince  Imperial,  who  was 
killed  in  South  Africa  whilst  fighting  in  an  English 
expedition  against  the  Zulus. 

At  the  moment  of  the  crisis,  as  before,  Gambetta, 
who    had    been  elected    to  the   Chairmanship  of  the 
Lower  Chamber,  was  the  acknowledged  chief  of  the 
Republican  Centres ;    and  recourse  should  have  been 
had   to   him  rather  than  to  another.      But,  since  the 
Cabinet  had  gone  out    on  somewhat  general  grounds, 
Monsieur  Grevy,  lacking  any  special  indication,  sum- 
moned one  of  its  members,  Monsieur  de  Freycinet,  who 
re-formed  and  patched  it  up,  as  Monsieur  Clemenceau 
put  the  matter,  without  making  it  more  homogeneous. 
Monsieur  de  Freycinet  was  a    man  of  varied  talents, 
clever  in  debate  and  conciliating  in  behaviour.     His 
suave  style,  together  with  his  physical  peculiarities  of 
voice  and  bearing,   caused  him  in  later  years   to   be 
dubbed  the  little  white  mouse.     But  it  was  his  mis- 
fortune, as  it  had  been  that  of  his  predecessor,  to  have 
no  comprehensive  policy  and  to  miss  the  opportunity 
of  doing  things  consistently.     This  was  seen  when  the 
amnesty  question  cropped  up  again  in  a  proposal  to 
achieve  what  had  been  begun  and  to  have  a  clean  slate. 
At  first  he  washed  his  hands  of  the  business,  and  the 
Chamber  rejected  the  Bill.     Four  months  afterwards, 
when  Gambetta  intervened  and  showed  with  his  usual 
eloquence  that  it  was  imperative  old  grudges  should  be 
forgotten,  he  veered  round  and  helped  the  law  to  pass. 


92      THE   THIRD    FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

A  considerable  event  in  the  history  of  French 
revolutionary  socialism  was  the  foundation  in  1880 
of  the  Intransigeant  newspaper  by  Henri  Roche- 
fort,  the  famous  democratic  Marquis,  who,  after 
figuring  in  the  Government  of  National  Defence,  had 
cast  his  lot  in  with  the  Commune  and  been  transported 
for  life.  Escaping  from  his  confinement  in  company 
with  some  other  prisoners,  he  took  refuge  in  England, 
where  he  remained  until  all  danger  of  further  prosecu- 
tion was  over.  For  a  number  of  years,  the  Intransigeant 
was  edited  by  its  fiery  owner  with  verve  and  violence 
against  every  Government,  whatever  their  opinions. 
Read  with  avidity  by  the  working  classes,  it  exercised 
an  appreciable  influence  on  their  votes  until  its  system- 
atic vituperation  grew  stale  and  at  length  ceased  to 
be  taken  seriously.  In  its  latest  phase  it  seems  to  serve 
as  a  sort  of  satiric  pick-me-up  giving  cabby  an  appetite 
for  lunch. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  year,  difficulties  arose  in 
connection  with  the  decrees  concerning  the  expulsion 
of  the  Jesuits  ;  and  Monsieur  de  Freycinet  followed 
Monsieur  Waddington's  example  and  retired.  Jules 
Ferry,  a  politician  who  knew  his  own  mind,  now  came 
to  the  head  of  affairs.  His  name  is  inseparably 
associated  with  the  extension  of  his  country's  colonial 
empire.  During  his  first  premiership,  he  succeeded  in 
establishing  a  French  protectorate  over  Tunis.  For 
some  time,  the  Algerian  frontier  had  been  suffering 
from  incursions  committed  by  the  pillaging  tribes  of 
the  Krumirs.  In  order  to  have  a  free  hand  for  action 
against  these  marauders,  the  French  Government,  in 
May  1881,  imposed  on  the  Bey  of  Tunis  the  treaty  of 
Bardo,  by  which  he  acknowledged  the  suzerainty  of  the 


THE  PRESIDENCY  OF  JULES  GREW     98 

Republic.  Then,  under  the  control  of  General  Saussier, 
a  campaign  was  undertaken  during  which  Sfax  was 
bombarded,  and  Susa,  Kabes  and  Kairwan  were 
captured,  the  last-mentioned  town  being  the  sacred 
city  of  the  Tunisians. 

The  expedition  was  not  popular  in  France  at  the  time 
of  its  being  carried  out.  Both  Parliament  and  people 
were  timid,  having  in  memory  the  consequences  of 
Napoleon's  unhappy  adventure  in  Mexico,  and  fancying 
that  a  policy  of  colonial  expansion  would  enfeeble  the 
strength  of  their  home  army.  Jules  Ferry,  on  the  con- 
trary, was  convinced  this  expansion  was  one  of  the 
best  ways,  if  not  the  only  one,  to  restore  the  national 
prestige  and  to  give  an  impetus  to  the  country's  trade. 
Despairing  of  being  able  to  convince  the  majority  of 
the  soundness  of  his  views,  he  concealed  his  intentions 
as  far  as  possible,  while  putting  them  into  practice ; 
and,  in  engaging  hostilities  and  making  treaties,  went 
beyond  what  Parliamentary  sanction  warranted.  The 
distrust  he  aroused  by  this  method  was  so  strong  that, 
when  the  entry  of  the  French  troops  into  Kairwan 
was  announced,  members  of  Parliament  received  the 
news  with  ironical  exclamations  and  disdainful  smiles. 
The  whole  thing  seemed  to  have  the  flavour  of  a  joke, 
with,  however,  consequences  unpleasant  to  the  one 
they  considered  as  the  jester.  The  Extreme  Lefts 
attacked  him  bitterly,  asserting  that  he  was  alienating 
Italy  and  Spain,  who  had  interests  in  Tunis,  and  was 
setting  his  country  in  a  disadvantageous  light  before 
Europe.  Results  have  shown  that  Jules  Ferry  was 
right  in  esteeming  Tunis  to  be  a  profitable  investment. 
It  is  a  rich  territory  and,  instead  of  costing  France 
money,  brings  her  in  every  year  an  important  asset  of 


94       THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

wealth.  In  the  November  of  1881,  Monsieur  Ferry 
was  practically  alone  in  his  anticipation,  so  he  contented 
himself  with  what  he  had  attained  and  returned  to  the 
ranks. 

Gambetta  was  now  the  only  man  that  could  be  ap- 
pealed to.  Even  in  his  chairmanship  of  the  Chamber 
he  had  been  looked  up  to  as  the  real  leader  of  the 
majority.  The  quadrenniale  lections  having  to  be  held 
in  the  latter  end  of  the  summer,  he  had  put  forward  in 
May  his  favourite  scheme  of  voting  by  the  scrutin  de 
liste  as  a  substitute  for  the  older  scrutin  d'arrondisse- 
ment,  the  latter  system  being  supposed  to  give  undue 
prominence  to  persons  and  not  enough  to  principles. 
In  the  former  there  was  presumably  less  likelihood  of 
local  attachment  to  certain  candidates  being  the  deter- 
mining factor  in  elections.  The  Bill  was  passed  in  the 
Chamber,  but  the  Senate  rejected  it,  notwithstanding 
that  Gambetta  had  defended  the  Upper  House  against 
the  Extreme  Lefts,  who  advocated  its  suppression. 
During  the  election  period,  his  platform  was  the  one 
adopted  by  the  Republican  Union,  and  comprised, 
among  other  reforms,  a  reduction  of  the  five  years' 
military  service,  administrative  decentralization  and 
taxation  of  incomes.  His  party  came  back  to  Parlia- 
ment with  an  increase  of  fifty  votes.  Monsieur  Grevy 
understood  the  hint,  and  Gambetta  was  at  length 
Prime  Minister.  Most  of  his  colleagues  were  untried 
men,  but  he  chose  them  well,  for  nearly  all  of  them, 
Waldeck  Rousseau,  Rouvier,  Spuller  and  Paul  Bert 
subsequently  made  their  mark  as  statesmen. 

During  his  long  waiting,  Gambetta  had  matured  a 
number  of  measures,  nearly  every  one  of  which  was 
destined    under   his   successors    to   become  law.     His 


THE   PRESIDENCY   OF  JULES  GREVY     95 

foreign  policy  was  based  on  maintaining  a  good 
understanding  with  Great  Britain  in  Eastern  affairs, 
and  would,  if  he  had  continued  in  office,  have  preserved 
the  condominium  in  Egypt  and  prevented  the  strained 
relations  that  ensued  between  the  two  nations.  Poten- 
tially, at  least,  his  Ministry  merited  the  epithet  of  great, 
which  has  sometimes  been  applied  to  it  and  which  the 
three  brief  months  of  its  existence  hardly  allowed  it  to 
gain.  Gambetta  lacked  opportunism.  He  forgot  that 
the  bulk  even  of  members  of  Parliament  have  their 
dose  of  egotism ;  otherwise,  he  would  scarcely  have 
thought  of  trying  to  do  away  with  the  practice — the 
time-honoured  abuse — of  deputies  being  employed  as 
mediums  for  obtaining  concessions  and  favours.  His 
proposal  to  entrust  the  Prefects  with  such  petitions  lost 
him  his  popularity,  and  the  remembrance  of  his  past 
services  vanished  like  a  dream.  At  once,  he  found 
himself  accused  of  double- facedness  ;  the  dread  word  of 
coup  d'etat  was  pronounced  ;  and,  over  this  question  of 
parish-pump  significance,  he  was  deserted  by  those  who 
had  been  his  warmest  political  friends. 

The  change  back  to  Monsieur  de  Freycinet  was  not 
an  advantage,  albeit  his  Minister  for  Education,  Mon- 
sieur Ferry,  managed  to  settle  in  Elementary  Schools 
the  conditions  under  which  religious  instruction  might 
be  given  in  hours  not  devoted  to  ordinary  work,  a 
solution  praised  by  Mr.  Mundella  as  being  the  most 
generous  one  in  educational  records.  Monsieur  de  Frey- 
cinet's  curiously  hesitating  mind  was  responsible  for  the 
French  defection  at  the  bombardment  of  Alexandria. 
The  consequences  of  this  fault  appeared  almost  im- 
mediately ;  and  Monsieur  Clemenceau,  whose  trenchant, 
incisive  criticism,  when  the  year's  credits  were  being 


96       THE   THIRD   FRENCH    REPUBLIC 

discussed,  exposed  all  the  Prime  Minister's  weakness, 
had  no  difficulty  in  adding  another  laurel  to  those  he 
had  already  acquired  as  the  'Feller  of  Cabinets' 

At  the  close  of  1882,  during  the  equally  transient 
administration  of  Messieurs  Duclerc  and  Fallieres, 
Gambetta  died  in  his  modest  house  at  Ville  d'Avray. 
The  circumstances  of  his  death  have  never  been  clearly 
determined.  He  is  said  to  have  accidentally  shot  him- 
self in  the  hand,  while  cleaning  a  revolver.  The  wound 
was  not  a  serious  one ;  but,  acting  on  a  constitution 
enfeebled  by  hard  work,  it  set  up  inflammation.  There 
were  rumours  of  suicide  from  motives  of  a  private 
character.  Perhaps,  the  eventual  publication  of  a 
remarkable  series  of  love-letters  written  by  the  great 
tribune  to  a  lady  that  he  was  much  attached  to  may 
help  to  elucidate  the  mystery.  His  funeral  was  a 
repetition  of  the  honours  shown  to  Thiers,  with  a 
greater  thrill  of  popular  emotion,  since  he  was  cut  off 
in  the  flower  of  his  age,  Thiers  at  the  natural  term  of 
his  career.  In  the  last  years  of  his  life,  jealousy  had 
somewhat  covered  up  his  claim  to  public  gratitude. 
At  his  grave,  it  was  his  patriotism,  devotion  to  the 
country's  good,  power  and  enlightened  intelligence  that 
people  remembered  and  mourned, 

The  year  1883,  which  was  troubled  throughout,  did 
not  begin  well.  Monsieur  Duclerc  and  his  colleagues 
were  not  in  good  odour  either  at  the  Presidency  or  in 
Parliament  or  among  the  masses.  The  pupils  of  the 
Lycees,  imitating  their  elders,  though  for  a  different 
cause,  manifested  their  sentiments  by  snowballing  the 
Minister  of  Public  Instruction.  At  the  Lycee  of  Louis 
le  Grand,  there  was  even  an  organized  revolt  of  the 
elder  scholars,  resulting  in  one  hundred  and  fifty  of 


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THE  PRESIDENCY  OF  JULES  GREW     97 

them  being  dismissed.     This,  it  is  true,  happened  in 

March,   when   Monsieur   Duclerc  had  disappeared  to 

make  room  for  Jules  Ferry's  resumption  of  the  first 

role.    The  youthful  rebels  in  each  instance  were  sons 

of  Monarchists,   Imperialists  and   Reactionaries,   who 

blamed  the  Government  for  wobbling  in  their  foreign 

policy,  which  Prince  Napoleon,  by  means  of  bills  stuck 

all   over  Paris,   asserted  to  be  the   outcome   of  their 

atheistic   persecution.     The    Chamber's   dissatisfaction 

was  caused  mainly  by  the  humdrum  programme  of  the 

Cabinet.     In  order  to  do  something,  the  Ministers,  who 

were,  on  the  whole,  victims  of  the  situation,  arrested 

Prince  Napoleon,  and  proceeded  to  take  from  the  various 

princes  of  families  having  reigned  in  France  the  right 

to  serve  in  the  army.    The  chief  personage  affected  by 

the  decree  was  the  Duke  d'Aumale,  who  was  obliged  to 

quit  his  command  in  the  east  at  Besancon. 

In  March  also  there  were  violent  demonstrations  of 
the  unemployed,  with  Louise  Michel  as  their  leader ; 
carrying  a  black  flag,  they  rushed  to  the  assault  of  a 
baker's  shop.  Louise  Michel,  who  had  been  a  governess, 
under  the  Empire,  donned  a  National  Guards  costume 
and  armed  herself  with  a  rifle  at  the  time  of  the  Com- 
mune. Like  the  poor  Rossel,  she  was  led  away  by  her 
imagination  and  enthusiasm,  wrote  in  the  Cri  de  Paris, 
was  wounded  and  taken  prisoner.  To  her  sex  she  owed 
it  that  the  death  she  claimed,  with  proud  disdain,  was 
commuted  into  penal  servitude.  Returning  from  New 
Caledonia,  she  now  provoked  the  Government  into 
sending  her  for  another  six  years  into  confinement. 

With  Jules  Ferry  once  more  at  the  helm  of  the 
State,  the  country's  colonial  activity  recommenced. 
The  establishment  of  a  protectorate  over  Madagascar 


98      THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

and  the  conquest  of  Tonkin  were  both  essentially  his 
work.  During  his  previous  ministry,  he  had  en- 
deavoured to  place  French  influence  on  a  more  satis- 
factory footing  in  the  island  of  the  Hovas,  basing 
himself  on  a  treaty  concluded  in  1841.  The  difficulties 
that  had  brought  about  his  interference  still  existing  in 
1883,  he  despatched  an  expedition  under  Admiral 
Pierre,  who  bombarded  the  coast,  and  took  the  towns 
of  Majunga  and  Tamatave.  As  these  demonstrations 
of  force  failed  to  convince  Queen  Ranavalo,  the  cam- 
paign was  continued  in  the  following  year  under 
Admiral  Miot,  who  compelled  the  Hovas  to  acknow- 
ledge the  French  suzerainty,  and  to  accept  a  French 
resident  minister  at  Tananarive 

Tonkin  was  a  more  serious  business.  Hostilities 
had  arisen  there  first  in  the  year  1873.  The  circum- 
stances were  these.  A  French  merchant,  Monsieur 
Jean  Dupuis,  trading  on  the  Yang-tse-Kiang,  had 
found  that  the  Red  River  was  navigable,  and  had 
several  times  gone  up  it  as  far  as  Mang-Ho,  where  he 
entered  into  relations  with  the  Chinese  mandarins  and 
the  Tonkinese.  This  displeased  the  Court  of  Annam, 
with  which  Admiral  Dupre  was  at  that  date  endeavour- 
ing to  negotiate  a  treaty  of  commerce  ;  and  the  Anna- 
mite  mandarins  made  representations  at  Saigon,  the 
capital  of  French  Cochin-China,  asking  that  Monsieur 
Dupuis  might  be  kept  away  from  Tonkin. 

Thereupon,  Admiral  Dupre  sent  to  Hanoi  the  naval 
lieutenant  Francis  Gamier,  who  had  already  explored 
part  of  Indo-China  and  along  the  Mekong  River. 
Gamier  set  out  from  Saigon  on  the  11th  of  October, 
1873,  with  two  gunboats  and  one  hundred  and  eighty 
men.     Arriving  at  Hanoi,  he  tried  to  arrange  the  diffi- 


THE  PRESIDENCY  OF  JULES   GREVY     99 

culty  by  pacific  means ;  but,  failing  in  this,  he  had 
recourse  to  hostilities  ;  and,  on  the  20th  of  November, 
he  captured  the  Hanoi  citadel,  and  took  prisoners  a 
thousand  of  the  Annamites.  Next,  he  advanced  into 
the  delta  of  the  Red  River,  and,  within  a  month,  was 
master  of  it.  Now,  however,  the  Annamites  appealed 
to  the  Black  Flag  tribes,  who  attacked  Hanoi  in 
December.  Garnier  repulsed  them,  and  started  in 
their  pursuit.  Unfortunately,  he  and  a  brother  officer, 
Monsieur  Balny  d'Avricourt,  fell  into  an  ambuscade 
and  they  and  their  men  were  killed. 

The  expedition,  in  so  far  as  it  had  taken  the  offensive, 
was  disavowed  by  the  Due  de  Broglie's  Government, 
Garnier's  instructions  having  been  merely  to  see  that 
Monsieur  Dupuis  undertook  to  observe  the  articles 
of  the  treaty  existing  between  Tu-Duc,  the  King  of 
Annam,  and  the  French  Government.  Consequently, 
Monsieur "  Philastre,  the  French  Commissary  at  the 
Court  of  Annam,  now  proceeded  to  draw  up  a  fresh 
agreement  with  Tu-Duc  guaranteeing  his  indepen- 
dence on  condition  of  his  opening  the  Red  River 
to  navigation  and  his  acknowledgment  of  French 
sovereignty  over  Cochin-China. 

For  some  years  after,  the  statu  quo  remained  exactly 
as  the  events  of  1873  had  determined.  Then,  the 
French  Government  having  reason  to  complain  of  the 
King  of  Annam's  inobservance  of  the  treaty  conditions 
he  had  signed,  sent  out  the  Commandant  Riviere  to 
hold  in  check  the  Black  Flags,  who,  aided  by  the 
Annamite  mandarins  and  a  number  of  Chinese,  were 
raiding  on  the  borders  of  Cochin-China.  Riviere  retook 
Hanoi ;  but,  his  force  being  only  a  small  one,  he  was 
in  turn  surrounded  and  besieged  in  the  citadel.     In  the 


100     THE   THIRD   FRENCH    REPUBLIC 

meantime,  negotiations  had  been  opened  between 
France  and  China  with  reference  to  the  latter's 
suzerainty  claims  over  Tonkin  and  Annam  and  the 
obligations  they  involved  ;  but,  before  these  had  pro- 
duced any  result,  the  news  came  of  Riviere's  death  in 
a  desperate  sortie.  Disregarding  now  China's  demand 
that  the  French  should  evacuate  Tonkin,  Admiral 
Courbet's  squadron  captured  the  forts  at  the  mouth  of 
the  River  Hue,  and  a  de  facto  French  protectorate  was 
imposed  upon  the  territory  in  dispute.  Both  fighting 
and  negotiating  still  went  on,  the  struggle  at  length 
becoming  one  with  the  Celestial  Empire.  In  the  last 
month  of  the  year,  two  strongholds,  Phu-Sa  and  Son- 
Tay,  were  stormed  by  Admiral  Courbet,  a  success 
which  rendered  it  more  easy  for  Monsieur  Ferry  to 
obtain  the  war  credits  that  were  required.  The  remain- 
ing fortresses  held  by  the  enemy  fell  into  the  hands 
of  Generals  de  Negrier  and  Briere  de  ITsle ;  and,  at 
Tien-Tsin,  China  signed  an  agreement  binding  her 
to  abandon  Tonkin,  and  to  subscribe  also  to  whatever 
arrangements  should  be  made  with  Annam. 

But  hardly  had  the  signatures  been  exchanged  when, 
in  June,  a  column  of  French  troops  was  surprised  at 
Bac-Le  and  serious  losses  inflicted.  An  ultimatum 
was  immediately  presented  at  Pekin,  backed  up  by  a 
naval  demonstration ;  and,  as  the  Chinese  resisted, 
Admiral  Courbet  destroyed  the  arsenal  of  Foo-chow, 
together  with  twenty-two  vessels,  and  blockaded  For- 
mosa. This  was  in  August,  when  Parliament  was  not 
sitting ;  and,  consequently,  hostilities  were  carried  on 
without  war  having  been  regularly  declared.  A  slight 
advantage  gained  by  the  Chinese  at  Tamsui,  where 
Admiral  Lespes  was  repulsed  and  suffered  some  loss, 


THE  PRESIDENCY  OF  JULES  GREW  101 

stiffened  the  Celestials'  upper  lip ;  and  they  refused  in 
October  Monsieur  Ferry's  peace  overtures,  although 
the  French  had  practically  reduced  the  Tonkinese  to 
submission.  So  the  war  went  on.  Early  in  the  new 
year  Generals  de  Negrier  and  Briere  de  l'lsle  drove 
back  the  Chinese  along  the  Loch  Nan  Valley,  and, 
after  five  days'  fighting,  seized  Lang-Son.  Here  de 
Negrier  stayed  while  his  colleague  returned  to  relieve 
Colonel  Domine,  whose  force  was  besieged  at  Tuyen- 
Quan  on  the  Claire  River.  By  dint  of  hard  fighting, 
he  carried  out  his  purpose ;  and  de  Negrier,  then 
advancing,  marched  on  That-Ke  and  blew  up  the 
Gate  of  China.  Simultaneously,  French  troops  under 
Rear- Admiral  Lespes  and  Colonel  Duchesne  disem- 
barked at  Formosa,  while  Courbet  blockaded  the 
mouth  of  the  Yang-tse-Kiang  and  cut  off  communica- 
tions between  China  and  Shang-Hai.  These  operations 
produced  an  impression  on  the  Celestial  Court,  which 
now  made  an  offer,  through  Sir  Robert  Hart,  to  ratify 
the  Treaty  of  Tien-Tsin.  But  again  two  sudden 
attacks  of  the  enemy  occurred  to  thwart  the  efforts 
of  diplomacy ;  and  both  Generals  within  a  few  days 
of  each  other  were  repulsed,  de  l'lsle  at  Bang-Co, 
de  Negrier,  who  himself  was  wounded,  at  Lang-Son, 
which  latter  place  had  to  be  evacuated. 

In  Parliament,  these  reverses  were  badly  received 
and  sufficed  to  upset  the  Cabinet.  Both  Monsieur 
Clemenceau  and  Monsieur  Ribot  pronounced  violent 
speeches,  accusing  Jules  Ferry  of  lying  and  treason. 
Such  charges  made  in  the  heat  of  debate  simply  meant 
that  the  Prime  Minister  had  again  outstepped  Parlia- 
mentary sanction  and  that  circumstances  had  momen- 
tarily   combined     against     him.      The    fears    of    the 


102     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

Chamber,  however,  were  exaggerated.  A  few  days 
after  their  hostile  vote,  news  came  saying  the  expedi- 
tionary forces  had  been  able  to  redeem  their  losses,  and 
that  Li-Hung-Chang  had  consented  to  the  departure 
of  the  Chinese  troops  from  Tonkin. 

Jules  Ferry's  work  was  done.  Misunderstood  at  the 
time,  it  was  recognized  later  as  being  that  of  a  master- 
mind. The  fresh  interests  he  created  in  the  Congo  and 
north  of  Africa  and  in  the  Far  East  were  a  useful 
salve  to  the  nation's  pride  and  a  productive  investment 
for  its  energy. 

It  remained  for  the  Elisha  who  took  up  Elijah's 
mantle  to  conclude  the  final  peace  of  Tien-Tsin,  which 
secured  the  conquest,  and  to  provide  for  its  future 
development.  The  one  chosen  was  the  Chairman  of 
the  Lower  Chamber,  Monsieur  Henri  Brisson,  a  man 
who  in  his  long  career  (he  is  to-day  once  more  pre- 
siding over  the  Deputies'  debates)  has  earned  a 
reputation  for  uncompromising  honesty  and  simplicity 
of  character,  for  absence  of  vaulting  ambition  and  for 
devotion  to  Republican  principles  of  an  advanced  but 
consistently  reasonable  kind.  Often  thrust  aside  by 
competitors  knowing  better  how  to  flatter  the  foibles 
of  their  fellows,  he  has  had  the  almost  unique  distinc- 
tion of  being  fetched  out  of  his  voluntary  retirement 
and  honoured  for  his  virtues  alone. 

The  year  1885,  which  was  marked  by  the  death  of 
Victor  Hugo  and  the  public  obsequies  of  this  renowned 
poet  and  novelist,  saw  also  a  renascence  of  the  parties 
that  his  writings  of  the  mature  period  had  done  so 
much  to  discredit.  The  Chamber's  quadrennium  was 
at  an  end ;  and  a  new  Parliament  had  to  be  elected. 
Converted  at  last  to  Gambetta's  scrutin  de  liste*  the 


THE  PRESIDENCY  OF  JULES  GREW  103 

retiring  members  made  it  into  a  law  before  going  to 
consult  their  constituents  ;  but,  like  many  other  experi- 
ments, it  yielded  something  differing  widely  from  what 
they  expected.  The  Republican  Centres  lost  heavily, 
and  the  two  Extremes  gained  in  proportion.  In 
reality,  there  was  not  so  much  a  Monarchist  revival  as 
a  manifestation  of  popular  discontent  with  a  condition 
of  affairs  not  well  understood  ;  to  some  extent  also,  the 
retrograde  movement  was  due  to  the  Moderates'  being 
frightened  by  the  sweeping  programme  of  the  Radical- 
Socialists,  which  advocated  the  abolition  of  the  Senate 
and  the  Presidency  of  the  Republic,  the  disestablish- 
ment of  the  Church,  the  suppression  of  a  permanent 
army,  and  the  adoption  of  communal  autonomy,  inter- 
national arbitrage,  a  progressive  income-tax  and  other 
measures  of  similarly  drastic  character. 

Monsieur  Brisson,  who  had  tried  his  best  in  the  old 
Parliament  to  liquidate  the  complicated  situation  that 
he  had  come  into,  found  himself  in  the  new  without  a 
working  majority.  A  good  deal  of  the  opposition  was 
from  men  that  had  once  been  his  supporters.  They 
wanted  him  to  undo  what  Jules  Ferry  had  done. 
Courteously  but  firmly  he  refused.  Though  not  per- 
sonally a  partisan  of  the  Tonkin  campaign,  he  felt 
bound  to  stand  by  the  consequences.  He  had  not  to 
consider,  as  his  opponents  did,  whether  France  would 
have  been  wiser  to  concentrate  her  colonizing  efforts 
instead  of  dividing  them.  In  presence  of  the  fait 
accompli  he  decided  that  the  only  thing  possible 
was  to  go  forward  and  make  the  most  of  the  advan- 
tages they  might  obtain  from  it.  This  attitude 
rallied  just  sufficient  votes  for  its  approval ;  but, 
since  the  funds  required  to   maintain   the   statu  quo 


104     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

were  reluctantly  granted,  he  abandoned  his  task  to 
others. 

The  resignation  of  the  Cabinet  happened  to  coincide 
with  the  Presidential  election.  The  way  to  the  Elysee 
was  again  open  after  seven  years ;  but  there  was  no 
one  to  dispute  with  Monsieur  Grevy  the  privilege  of 
re-entering.  Had  Gambetta  lived,  he  would  in  all 
likelihood  have  been  preferred.  Monsieur  Brisson  might 
have  been,  had  he  willed.  In  spite  of  his  not  being 
a  candidate,  nearly  a  hundred  admirers  in  the  two 
Chambers  gave  him  their  suffrages.  On  the  whole,  it 
would  have  been  better  for  Monsieur  Grevy  if  he  had 
contented  himself  with  his  first  Presidency.  The  second 
was  of  but  short  duration,  and  finished,  like  MacMahon's, 
with  a  compulsory  exit. 

Amidst  the  strife  of  tongues  that  had  monopolized 
public  attention  throughout  the  twelvemonth,  the 
decree  giving  to  the  various  University  Faculties  in 
the  country  the  right  to  receive  gifts  and  legacies  and 
to  fix  their  own  programmes  passed  almost  unheeded. 
It  was  a  step  in  the  direction  of  greater  independence 
for  the  higher  teaching  bodies  ;  and,  as  such,  was  com- 
pleted by  the  creation  in  December  of  a  University 
Council  in  each  academic  centre.  Previously  there  had 
been  too  much  waiting  on  the  head  Educational  Depart- 
ment both  in  school  and  college,  a  state  of  things  hit 
off  by  the  story  of  the  Minister  who  is  reported  to  have 
taken  his  watch  out  of  his  pocket  while  speaking  at  a 
meeting  and  to  have  said :  '  At  this  moment  every 
pupil  in  our  Lycees  all  over  the  country  is  engaged  in 
the  higher  classes  on  a  Latin  theme.' 

In  the  following  year,  Monsieur  Goblet,  the  Minister 
of  Public  Instruction  in  a  third  de  Freycinet  Cabinet, 


THE  PRESIDENCY  OF  JULES  GREVY  105 

continued  the  Government's  concessions  to  new  ideas 
by  courageously  assigning  to  modern  languages  a  larger 
share  in  the  school  curriculum.  Up  to  the  time  of  the 
Third  Republic,  the  Latin  and  Greek  classics  were  the 
chief  pabulum  with  which  the  youthful  mind  was  fed 
while  at  school.  One  and  only  one  modern  language 
was  introduced  on  tolerance  into  the  Lycees,  and  was 
taught  by  anybody  and  anyhow.  Monsieur  Breal,  the 
eminent  university  professor,  relates,  though  the  story 
has  a  Pickwickian  flavour,  that,  in  those  days,  a  Polish 
refugee,  being  recommended  to  the  French  Minister, 
was  offered  a  professorship  in  a  provincial  school.  The 
beneficiary  ventured  to  observe  he  was  a  Pole,  not  a 
German  ;  but  his  objection  was  good-humouredly  over- 
ruled. He  went  and  took  possession  of  his  post  and 
kept  it  for  some  years.  At  length,  under  the  new 
order,  a  modern  language  inspector  arrived  at  the  school 
and  began  questioning  the  pupils  in  German.  To  his 
astonishment  they  spoke  another  tongue.  It  was 
Polish. 

Since  the  death  of  the  Comte  de  Chambord  in  1883, 
the  Royalists  had  looked  upon  Louis-Philippe's  grand- 
son, the  Comte  de  Paris,  as  the  rightful  heir  to  the 
throne.  At  present  he  was  living  undisturbed  in  France, 
either  at  his  Chateau  d'Eu  or  in  Paris.  In  the  May  of 
1886,  the  Count's  daughter  Amelie  was  married  to  the 
Crown  Prince  Charles  of  Portugal ;  and  to  the  grand 
fete  held  on  the  occasion  at  the  Galliera  mansion  in  the 
Rue  de  Grenelle,  the  Count  invited  the  Tout  Paris, 
including  the  foreign  ambassadors  in  the  French  capital. 
These  latter,  however,  did  not  attend.  Probably  more 
an  eddy  on  the  surface  than  an  under-current,  there 
was   a    considerable   amount    of   excitement   aroused. 


106     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

Paris  has  always  had  a  weakness  for  the  pomp  kings 
bring  in  their  train.  But  the  Republican  press  took 
fright ;  and  the  Government,  a  little  alarmed  too,  in- 
duced the  Chambers  to  vote  the  banishment  of  every 
direct  descendant  of  families  having  reigned  in  France, 
and,  besides,  the  deprivation  of  every  collateral  descen- 
dant of  the  right  to  hold  any  public  function  or  rank 
and  grade.  The  second  article  of  the  law  took  from 
the  Due  de  Chartres  and  the  Due  d'Aumale,  the  brother 
and  the  uncle  of  the  Pretendant,  their  titles  of  General, 
which  they  had  retained,  though  retired  in  the  year 
1883. 

The  Minister  for  War,  at  the  moment,  was  General 
Boulanger,  soon  to  loom  on  the  political  horizon  as  a 
sort  of  dictator.  His  military  career  had  been  excep- 
tionally brilliant  and  rapid.  Distinguished  by  skill  and 
bravery  during  campaigns  in  Kabyl-land,  Indo-China, 
and  throughout  the  Franco-German  War,  he  had  shown 
great  ability  at  the  War  Office.  By  an  irony  of  fate, 
the  Due  d'Aumale,  under  whose  command  he  once 
served,  had  helped  in  his  advancement.  The  General 
had  now  to  pronounce  sentence  against  his  former 
benefactor.  This  he  did  with  a  certain  disregard  of 
bygone  relations ;  and  his  hauteur  appeared  the 
more  undefendable  in  the  light  of  letters  of  effusive 
gratitude  which  he  had  written  to  the  Duke  and  which 
were  inconveniently  published  by  some  Royalist  journals. 
At  first  he  denied  their  authenticity ;  then  perforce 
acknowledged  the  paternity.  Fair-minded  people 
were  disagreeably  impressed  by  his  disingenuousness. 
Among  a  certain  class,  however,  represented  by  the 
Intransigeant  and  the  Lantcrne  newspapers,  he  acquired 
immense  popularity.     At  the  review  of  the   14th  of 


P  : 


Photograph  :    Rulloz 


VICTOR     HUGO 
By   KOD1N 


THE  PRESIDENCY  OF  JULES   GREVY  107 

July,  he  was  the  hero  of  the  day.  President,  deputies, 
and  even  the  Tonkin  troops  were  eclipsed.  The  publie 
had  no  eyes  except  for  him  and  his  black  charger,  and 
cheered  him  all  the  way  back  to  the  War  Office. 

The  Due  d'Aumale  did  not  accept  his  exclusion 
without  a  vigorous  protest,  which  had  no  other  effect 
than  to  provoke  the  Cabinet  to  send  him  also  in  exile. 
Better  inspired  in  December,  he  made  the  soft  answer 
that  turneth  away  wrath  by  publishing  his  intention  of 
presenting  the  nation  with  his  fine  Chateau  of  Chantilly 
and  all  its  art  treasures.  It  was  a  noble  act  and  a  noble 
gift.  The  Republic  acknowledged  it  in  1889  by  re- 
calling him  from  banishment. 

Except  in  the  domain  of  education,  Monsieur  de 
Freycinet's  third  Ministry  was  not  able  to  accomplish 
very  much.  The  Prime  Minister  played  second  roles 
better  than  first  ones.  He  had  not  Thiers"  knack  of 
managing  a  fickle  majority.  There  was  a  deficiency  in 
the  budget ;  and  the  proposals  made  to  meet  it,  which 
included  a  more  decided  Protectionism  plus  an  Income 
Tax,  clashed  with  too  many  private  interests  for  a 
harmonious  settlement.  Monsieur  Goblet  was  still  the 
innovator.  After  proceeding  to  further  rejuvenate  the 
ancient  classical  system  by  leavening  it  with  a  large 
admixture  of  science  and  modern  literature,  he  grappled 
with  the  thorny  question  of  the  presence  of  the  clergy 
and  Religious  Orders  as  professors  in  State  elementary 
schools.  By  his  influence  it  was  made  impossible  for  any 
but  laymen  to  hold  a  State  educational  employment. 
Thenceforward,  the  Orders  were  only  to  inculcate  their 
tenets  in  establishments  of  their  own. 

Before  Christmas,  Monsieur  Goblet  stepped  into 
Monsieur  de  Freycinet's  shoes,  his  chief  having  for  once 


108     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

shown  firmness  in  endeavouring  to  save  the  Sub-Prefects 
from  extinction.  In  France,  there  are  subs  in  every 
office  high  or  low.  Some  are  doubtless  necessary ; 
others  hold  what  are  with  reason  esteemed  to  be 
sinecures.  Candid  critics  assert  that  Sub-Prefects  are 
merely  Prefects'  letter-boxes.  But  Monsieur  de 
Freycinet  was  not  willing  for  them  to  be  extinguished. 
Nor  have  they  been  so  far,  though  their  utility  is 
as  much  contested  as  ever.  However,  the  deputies  on 
this  occasion  voted  their  suppression — and  suppressed 
Monsieur  de  Freycinet  instead. 

Monsieur  Goblet  was  an  eminent  jurisconsult.  He 
possessed  moreover  a  talent  of  terse  oratory,  and, 
in  opposition,  had  the  reputation  of  being  somewhat 
bitter.  When  in  power,  he  was  a  plain  and  straight- 
forward legislator.  Perhaps  he  could  hardly  do  other- 
wise than  keep  General  Boulanger  as  his  War  Minister, 
since  he  took  over  the  Cabinet  almost  intact.  At  any 
rate,  the  General  was  an  embarrassing  inheritance.  His 
popularity  had  gone  up  by  leaps  and  bounds.  For  the 
first  few  months,  everybody  had  been  talking  of  his  fine 
presence,  his  frank,  open  manners,  his  genial  conversa- 
tion, his  faculty  of  assimilation,  his  wonderful  memory 
and  his  gift  of  showing  off  to  advantage.  His  fame 
spread  from  the  capital  to  the  provinces  and  abroad. 
Bismarck  saw  in  him  an  instigator  of  the  expected 
revanche.  Either  real  apprehension  or  a  desire  to  feel 
France's  pulse  caused  the  German  Chancellor  to 
demand  fresh  military  credits  and  to  put  the  frontier 
in  readiness,  as  if  hostilities  were  about  to  break  out. 
Monsieur  Goblet  made  no  counter-demonstration  and 
displaced  no  troops.  None  the  less,  great  anxiety  and 
effervescence    prevailed    in   the    country,    which    was 


THE  PRESIDENCY  OF  JULES   GREW  109 

increased  when  in  April  a  French  police  agent.  Mon- 
sieur Schnaebele,  was  arrested  just  over  the  border 
as  a  spy  and  carried  off  handcuffed  to  Metz.  The 
French  Government  immediately  instituted  an  inquiry 
and  addressed  a  complaint  to  the  Berlin  authorities. 
Among  Monsieur  Schnaebele's  papers  were  found 
letters  from  Herr  Gautsch,  the  German  Commissary 
at  the  frontier,  fixing  appointments  with  his  French 
colleague.  These  letters  being  equivalent  to  a  safe- 
conduct,  the  arrest  was  illegal.  The  Chancellor,  in 
reply  to  Monsieur  Herbette  the  French  Ambassador's 
protest,  consented  to  release  Schnaebele,  but  accused 
him  of  corresponding  with  an  Alsatian  that  was  impli- 
cated in  an  affair  of  high  treason.  The  charge  was  never 
cleared  up.  The  one  thing  evident  throughout  the 
incident  was  the  French  Government's  peaceful  attitude 
under  trying  circumstances. 

General  Botilanger  was  the  only  member  of  the 
Cabinet  who  was  restive  during  the  crisis.  Restrained 
by  his  fellow  Minister  at  the  Foreign  Office,  Monsieur 
Flourens,  from  writing  to  the  Czar  to  enlist  Russia's 
support  in  case  of  an  attack  by  Germany,  he  an- 
nounced in  the  spring  that  a  mobilization  of  troops 
would  be  essayed  in  the  autumn  on  the  west  and  south 
of  France.  The  publication  of  this  news  months  in 
advance  was  not  necessary,  and  was  a  mistake,  especi- 
ally as  the  Chauvinist  press  gave  it  a  significance  that 
did  not  belong  to  it  naturally.  The  feeling  of  un- 
easiness it  aroused  among  those  who  were  not  carried 
away  by  the  popular  infatuation  for  Boulanger  was 
responsible  for  the  determination,  exhibited  by  the 
majority  during  the  budget  discussions  in  May,  to 
demand  a  more  considerable  reduction  in  the  military 


110     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

credits  than  Monsieur  Goblet  was  prepared  to  accede 
to.  The  General  was  thus  the  cause  of  the  Minis- 
terial discomfiture.  He  was  also  one  obstacle 
that  blocked  the  way  for  nearly  a  fortnight  to  any 
reconstitution  of  the  Cabinet.  The  various  chiefs 
consulted  by  Monsieur  Grevy  were  not  in  agree- 
ment as  to  the  advisability  of  the  General's  being 
included  in  the  new  combination.  Another  difficulty 
was  the  uncertain  character  of  the  Parliamentary 
majority.  Both  Rights  and  Lefts  had  strengthened 
their  representation  in  the  two  or  three  years  pre- 
ceding, so  that  it  was  not  easy  for  the  moderate 
Republicans  to  legislate  without  relying  somewhat  on 
one  of  the  two  wings.  Attempts  were  made  at  a 
coalition  that  would  include  Monsieur  Clemenceau ;  it 
was  even  thought  for  a  moment  that  the  brilliant 
leader  of  the  advanced  Radicals  would  be  at  the  head 
of  the  next  Ministry  ;  but  he  would  have  nothing  to  do 
with  the  General.  At  last,  Monsieur  Rouvier,  whose 
speciality  was  finance,  contrived  to  secure  helpers  by 
an  eclectic  choice  that  favoured  the  Rights  and  Centres 
more  than  the  Lefts. 

This  he  did  after  a  visit  had  been  paid  to  the  Presi- 
dent by  the  leader  of  the  Rights,  Monsieur  Mackau, 
who  informed  Monsieur  Grevy  that  his  party  were 
ready  to  abandon  their  systematic  opposition,  provided 
there  were  no  loans  or  fresh  taxes,  and  no  laws  against 
the  established  religion  and  society.  After  all,  General 
Boulanger  was  left  out,  to  the  great  displeasure  of  the 
Chauvinists,  who,  with  Monsieur  Deroulede  at  their 
head,  thronged  in  noisy  demonstration  round  the  train 
which  in  July  was  conveying  the  General  to  his 
military  command  at   Clermont-Ferrand,  loth  to   let 


THE  PRESIDENCY  OF  JULES  GREVY  111 

him  go.  It  was  what  would  be  called  in  French  a 
fausse  sortie.  He  was  soon  to  return  to  the  scene  of 
his  recent  triumphs  and  play  out  the  rest  of  his  role  in 
a  new  dress. 

One  of  those  calamities  which  periodically  come  to 
startle  our  civilizations  and  plunge  numerous  families 
into  mourning  happened  while  the  President  was  still 
endeavouring  to  find  his  last  Prime  Minister.  The 
Opera  Comique  was  burnt  down  on  May  25th,  during 
the  first  act  of  Ambroise  Thomas's  Mig?wn.  Mademoi- 
selle Merguillier  and  Monsieur  Soulacroix  were  just 
finishing  their  duo  :  Old,  voila  pour  re  soir  ma  nouvelle 
conqucte,  when  sparks  began  to  fall  behind  them  on 
the  stage.  At  first  the  spectators  thought  it  was  a 
trifling  accident ;  but,  when  the  curtain  of  the  frieze 
fell  on  to  the  footlights,  and  a  lustre  crashed  down  on 
the  top  of  that,  actors  and  public  fled  to  the  exits.  In 
a  few  minutes,  the  flames  were  everywhere,  driving 
back  terrified  groups,  who  scrambled  to  the  balconies 
and  upper  windows  of  the  building,  where  some  of 
them  leapt  down  into  the  streets  below  and  were  either 
killed  or  seriously  hurt.  The  work  of  rescue  was 
difficult,  the  firemen  being  much  impeded  in  their 
heroic  efforts  by  the  explosion  of  the  pyrotechnic  store- 
room. One  volunteer,  a  typesetter  named  Tierce, 
after  twice  entering  the  conflagration  and  saving  two 
lives,  lost  his  own  in  a  third  attempt.  More  than  a 
hundred  victims  perished  in  the  disaster,  without  count- 
ing the  injured. 

Monsieur  Rouvier  had  come  into  power,  pledged  to 
effect  economies ;  and,  a  thing  that  does  not  always 
befall,  even  when  such  pledges  are  given,  he  effected 
them.     A  man  of  shrewd  common  sense,  he  was  more 


112    THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

disposed  to  welcome  proposals  of  immediate  practical 
utility  than  those  which  provoked  controversy  on  party 
lines.  This  was  seen  in  the  amicable  arrangements 
that  his  Foreign  Minister,  Monsieur  Flourens,  made 
with  Great  Britain  concerning  the  New  Hebrides  and 
Leeward  Islands  and  the  neutralization  of  the  Suez 
Canal.  At  the  time,  he  was  studying  the  question  of 
a  rapprochement  between  France,  Russia  and  Great 
Britain  which  might  counterbalance  the  Triple  Alliance, 
just  then  brought  to  the  fore  by  the  interview  of  Crispi 
and  Bismarck.  Inside  Parliament,  projects  like  that 
for  the  Metropolitan  Railway,  fated  to  be  shelved  for 
another  ten  years,  were  discussed,  the  suppression  of 
the  window  and  door  tax  also,  a  survival  of  centuries 
less  favourable  to  light  and  air,  not  even  yet  done 
away  with.  Meanwhile  the  Revolutionary  Socialist 
party  under  Monsieur  Joffrin  were  preaching  a  crusade 
of  the  masses  against  the  classes,  and  Boulanger's 
friends  within  and  without  the  Chamber  were  doing 
their  utmost  to  render  another  coup  d'etat  possible. 

Jules  Ferry,  his  unpopularity  notwithstanding — at 
the  annual  review,  cries  of  Vive  Boidanger  had  been 
mingled  with  some  that  were  less  complimentary  to 
himself — continued  in  trenchant  platform  oratory  to 
condemn  the  misguided  patriotism  which  allowed  itself 
to  be  led  away  by  men  of  swollen  ambition  and  un- 
wholesome vanity  and  would  run  behind  the  car  of  a 
Saint-Arnaud  de  cafe-concert,  a  miles  ghriosus.  And, 
in  the  midst  of  the  country's  preparations  for  the 
Centenary  Exhibition  of  1889,  there  was  need,  as  he 
said,  of  tranquillity  and  co-operation. 

His  warning  was  opportune.  The  Comte  de  Paris, 
now  the  forlorn  hope  of  the  Monarchists,  had  recently 


THE  PRESIDENCY  OF  JULES  GREW  113 

declared  himself  a  convert  to  the  plebiscite,  and  was 
disputing  with  Victor  Napoleon,  the  Neo-Bonapartists' 
candidate,  such  chances  as  seemed  to  be  offered  by  the 
Chauvinists'  coquetting  with  Boulanger. 

The  Wilson  scandal  was  on  the  point  of  becoming 
public.  It  was  as  though  the  two  Pretendants  had  had 
an  inkling  of  the  thing  beforehand.  In  the  early  days 
of  October,  General  Caffarel,  a  staff  officer  at  the  War 
Office,  was  suddenly  dismissed  from  his  post  and  retired 
from  the  army,  on  a  charge  that  was  specified  only  as 
dishonourable  conduct.  General  Boulanger,  to  whom 
he  owed  his  appointment,  took  no  pains  to  disguise  his 
opinion  that  the  cashiering  was  a  manoeuvre  aimed  at 
himself  by  his  successor.  Compelled  to  notice  this 
criticism,  the  Government  inflicted  thirty  days'  arrest 
on  the  General,  whereupon  his  liege  newspapers  raised 
a  hubbub  and,  worse  still,  entered  on  a  campaign  against 
the  President  of  the  Republic,  whose  son-in-law,  Mon- 
sieur Wilson,  was  discovered  to  be  mixed  up  in  the 
affair.  General  Caffarel  having  been  arrested,  a  judicial 
inquiry  was  opened,  which  revealed  that  he  had  been 
in  regular  relations  with  a  clandestine  agency  for  the 
purchase  and  sale  of  Government  decorations.  The 
agency  was  kept  by  a  woman  named  Limouzin,  who 
operated  through  the  General,  together  with  Count 
Andlau,  a  Senator,  and — Monsieur  Wilson. 

As  soon  as  Parliament  reassembled,  a  committee  of 
investigation  was  demanded  and  reluctantly  granted. 
Its  proceedings  were,  however,  overshadowed  by  the 
trial  of  Madame  Limouzin  and  General  Caffarel,  which 
began  on  the  7th  of  November.  An  unpleasant  inci- 
dent occurred  in  connection  with  two  letters  that  had 
been  written  by  Monsieur  Wilson  to  the  female  prisoner 


114     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

three  years  previously.  The  letters  had  been  in  the 
hands  of  the  police,  but  were  taken  out  of  the  dossier 
by  the  Prefect,  Monsieur  Gragnon,  before  it  was  trans- 
mitted to  the  Court  of  Justice.  Though  they  were  not 
important  in  themselves,  so  manifest  an  encroachment 
of  privilege  on  the  claims  of  equal  justice  produced  a 
painful  impression  on  general  opinion.  To  confess  the 
truth,  Monsieur  Grevy  also  showed  want  of  tact.  His 
son-in-law  being  undoubtedly  implicated,  it  would  have 
been  more  dignified  of  him  to  resign  his  official  position 
as  soon  as  he  became  cognizant  of  the  facts,  and  to 
leave  the  question  of  his  resignation  to  be  settled 
by  Parliament.  Instead  of  doing  so,  he  provoked  a 
ministerial  crisis,  permitted  a  political  agitation  to 
aggravate  the  situation,  then  announced  his  intention 
to  quit  the  Presidency,  but  changed  his  mind  almost 
immediately  and  remained  at  the  Elysee. 

This  volte  face  was  mainly  due  to  the  fierce  attacks 
made  by  both  Radicals  and  Boulangists  against  Jules 
Ferry,  whom  the  two  Chambers  in  Congress  seemed 
desirous  of  choosing  as  President.  The  most  insulting 
epithets  were  hurled  against  him,  while  Deroulede, 
haranguing  the  crowd  on  the  Place  de  la  Concorde, 
coupled  in  his  eulogiums  the  unfortunate  occupier  of 
the  Elysee  and  General  Boulanger.  Monsieur  Grevy 
fancied  it  was  still  possible  for  him  to  stay  where  he 
was,  and  interpreted  the  street  agitation  as  a  mark  of 
real  sympathy.  The  Chambers  were  compelled  to  un- 
deceive him.  They  adjourned  their  sittings  until  the 
Presidential  message — of  resignation  they  meant — 
should  have  been  received.  The  hint  was  taken,  and 
the  required  abdication  was  given,  but  grudgingly  and 
with  recrimination  against  those  who  forced  him. 


THE  PRESIDENCY   OF  JULES  GREW  115 

It  was  a  sorry  ending  to  an  honourable  public  life. 
During  the  years  in  which  he  had  presided  over  the 
nation's  destinies,  he  had  done  what  he  conceived  to  be 
his  duty.  He  was,  however,  a  square  individual  in  a 
round  hole,  since  he  had  but  small  affability  and  bon- 
homie, and  lacked  the  fine  intuition  which  a  man  needs, 
if  he  is  to  succeed  in  the  highest  position  of  the  State. 
He  regarded  his  office  too  much  as  an  investment,  hid 
himself  from  the  people,  saved  money  out  of  his  Presi- 
dent's income,  and,  at  the  close,  allowed  himself  to  be 
entangled  in  the  meshes  of  a  movement  directed  against 
the  existence  of  the  Republic.  His  energy  was  spas- 
modic, not  continuous,  and,  on  the  whole,  was  inappro- 
priate to  the  event.  With  a  broader  mind  and  more 
sensibility,  he  might  have  exercised  greater  influence 
on  the  working  of  the  Parliamentary  organism,  and 
perhaps,  too,  have  nipped  in  the  bud  the  latest  phase 
of  bastard  hero-worship. 


VI 

THE  PRESIDENCY  OF  CARNOT 

Sadi  Carnot,  who,  on  the  3rd  of  December,  1887,  was 
chosen  to  replace  Monsieur  Grevy,  was  an  outsider  on 
the  list,  since  he  owed  his  election  chiefly  to  the 
inability  of  the  various  sections  of  the  Republican 
party  to  get  in  one  of  their  more  representative  men — 
Ferry,  de  Freycinet  or  Floquet.  But  the  choice  was 
a  good  one.  A  grandson  of  the  great  Lazare  Carnot 
of  First  Revolution  fame,  he  was  brought  by  his  father, 
Hippolyte  Carnot,  into  contact  with  the  Saint- 
Simonians,  learnt  at  an  early  age  the  carpenter's  trade 
as  something  to  fall  back  upon  in  life  in  case  of  need, 
and  was  taught  to  sympathize  with  those  that  toil  and 
are  poor  and  suffer.  After  completing  his  studies  at 
the  Ecole  Polytechnique,  he  became  a  civil  engineer. 
Made  known  to  Gambetta  at  the  time  of  the  war 
through  his  having  offered  to  the  Government  of 
National  Defence  an  improved  mitrailleuse  of  his  own 
invention,  he  was  returned,  together  with  his  father,  to 
the  National  Assembly,  and  from  that  time  sat  con- 
tinuously in  Parliament,  rising  gradually  to  ministerial 
rank,  and  at  length  holding  the  position  of  Finance 
Minister.  During  the  Wilson  scandal  it  came  out 
that  he  had  safeguarded  the  National  Exchequer  and 
refused  to  be  cajoled,  under  circumstances  of  great 
delicacy,  when  Monsieur  Grevy's  son-in-law  was  en- 

116 


PRESIDENT     CARN'OT 

From  a  Photograph  by  PIERRE  PETIT 


THE   PRESIDENCY   OF   CARNOT      117 

deavouring  to  obtain  money  to  back  up  a  private  com- 
pany. The  accidental  revelation  of  this  conduct,  so 
creditable  to  him,  undoubtedly  contributed  to  form  the 
opinion  which  guided  the  majority  of  senators  and 
deputies  in  Congress. 

When  called  to  occupy  the  highest  magistracy  in 
the  country,  Monsieur  Carnot  was  a  comparatively 
young  man,  being  only  fifty  years  of  age.  Tall,  dark, 
somewhat  military  in  bearing,  calm  in  demeanour, 
retiring  in  manners,  and  with  a  look  of  much  benignity 
in  his  eyes,  he  stood  then,  as  he  had  always  stood,  aloof 
from  the  quarrels  of  controversial  politics.  Though  a 
convinced  Republican,  he  was  conciliatory  towards 
views  different  from  his  own ;  and,  during  a  period  if 
anything  more  disturbed  than  that  of  his  predecessor, 
so  acted  as  to  elevate  the  dignity  of  the  Presidency  to 
a  higher  level  than  it  had  previously  attained. 

The  firmament  was  anything  but  serene  in  the  days 
following  his  entrance  into  the  Elysee.  Jules  Ferry, 
though  rejected,  was  none  the  less  regarded  with  such 
animosity  by  that  portion  of  the  community  in  which 
the  plebiscite  was  an  article  of  faith  that,  almost  imme- 
diately after  the  Presidential  election,  a  man  named 
Aubertin  attempted  to  assassinate  him.  At  the  other 
political  extreme,  the  Socialists,  more  compact  than 
ever,  had  framed  a  definite  charter.  Manifestos  were 
in  vogue,  so  they  published  theirs.  It  comprised 
autonomy  for  each  commune  (a  revival  and  extension 
of  the  Paris  Commune  project),  international  federa- 
tion, arbitration  between  one  nation  and  another  as 
well  as  between  individuals,  the  transformation  of  per- 
manent armies  into  sedentary  militias  composed  of  all 
citizens    above    twenty-one,    abolition    of    the    death 


118     THE   THIRD    FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

penalty  and  limitation  of  the  right  to  punish  to  neces- 
sities of  social  defence,  organization  of  universal  suffrage 
so  as  to  respect  the  rights  of  minorities,  an  equality  of 
rights  for  legitimate  and  illegitimate  children  alike, 
disestablishment  of  the  Church  and  the  suppression  of 
all  ecclesiastical  subsidies,  and  absolute  liberty  to  think, 
speak,  write,  assemble,  associate  and  work.  In  addi- 
tion to  these  claims,  there  were  others  more  properly 
socialistic — the  transformation  of  all  monopolies  into 
public  services,  the  nationalization  of  all  private  pro- 
perty, the  progressive  taxation  of  wealth,  the  abolition 
of  inheritance  in  any  but  the  direct  line,  and  insurance 
and  pensions  for  old  age,  accidents,  etc. 

Intermediary  between  the  advocacy  of  personal  rule 
dependent  on  a  popular  vote  and  this  Socialist  gospel 
with  leanings  towards  Collectivism,  there  was  yet 
another  question  pending  that  was  a  sort  of  con- 
necting link — revision  of  the  Constitution.  For  oppo- 
site reasons,  not  a  few  persons  in  and  out  of  Parliament 
were  persuaded  that  the  Constitution  devised  during 
MacMahon's  rule  was  imperfect.  Revision  was  there- 
fore favoured  by  fractions  of  each  Parliamentary  group. 

And  then  the  Wilson  trial  was  still  exciting  public 
opinion.  The  lobbies  of  the  Palais  de  Justice  were 
crowded  with  spectators,  whose  curiosity  was  tickled 
by  the  social  status  of  the  defendants  and  the  rapid 
and  extraordinary  changes  that  occurred.  Everything 
was  novel  and  dramatic.  The  telephone  had  been  used 
to  surprise  the  secrets  of  one  of  the  accused ;  an 
examining  magistrate  was  seen  to  stop  questioning  a 
witness,  to  go  and  lunch  amicably  with  him,  and  then 
to  rise  from  table  and  serve  him  with  an  arrest-warrant, 
which  was  forthwith  put  into  execution ;  the  Court  of 


THE   PRESIDENCY   OF   CARNOT      119 

Appeal  and  that  of  the  Chancellor  were  at  loggerheads, 
not  to  speak  of  accusers  and  accused  appearing  alter- 
nately in  the  witness-box  and  at  the  Bar.  Ultimately 
Monsieur  Wilson  and  his  accomplices  were  condemned 
to  fine  and  imprisonment,  but  the  sentence  was 
quashed  by  a  higher  tribunal. 

In  forming  his  first  Ministry,  Monsieur  Carnot  took 
a  leaf  out  of  the  book  of  Congress.  After  some  unsuc- 
cessful conversations  with  the  fighting  chiefs  of  the 
Chambers,  he  summoned  an  outsider  also,  Monsieur 
Tirard,  who  was  at  the  head  of  the  Exhibition  Com- 
mittee, and,  like  the  President,  had  so  far  made  himself 
more  useful  than  conspicuous.  Monsieur  Tirard  soon 
found  colleagues,  and  would,  under  ordinary  circum- 
stances, have  probably  furnished  a  satisfactory  record. 
But  General  Boulanger  was  again  to  the  front.  In 
February,  his  ficlus  Achates,  Monsieur  Thiebaud,  put 
him  up  as  a  candidate  in  half  a  dozen  by-elections, 
without  his  protesting  ;  and,  when  the  Minister  for 
War  asked  him  to  disavow  the  use  made  of  his  name, 
his  reply  was  rather  an  approval  than  a  condemnation. 
Being  removed  from  his  command,  he  came  to  Paris 
under  the  auspices  of  what  was  called  the  Republican 
Committee  of  National  Protestation,  and  allowed  himself 
to  be  nominated  in  a  further  series  of  by-elections. 
For  this  breach  of  discipline  he  was  retired  from  the 
army.  Free  now  not  only  to  be  elected,  but  to  sit, 
he  was  returned  by  large  majorities  in  two  depart- 
ments, and  at  once  took  position  as  a  Revisionist  before 
his  fellow  deputies. 

The  Chamber  was  in  a  quandary.  Influenced  by  the 
Wilson  scandal,  and  by  the  hitches  constantly  hap- 
pening in  the  working  of  the  Parliamentary  system. 


120    THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

the  majority  had  passed  a  resolution  in  March  in  favour 
of  the  supposed  panacea  of  the  evils  they  wanted  to 
cure.  Monsieur  Tirard  had  opposed  the  vote ;  and 
now  Monsieur  Floquet,  presumably  a  Revisionist, 
having  abandoned  his  chairmanship  of  the  Chamber  to 
Monsieur  Meline,  was  at  the  head  of  affairs. 

It  was  not  a  pleasant  situation.  For  General 
Boulanger  seemed  to  be  conquering  capital  and 
provinces  together.  In  Paris,  Paulus,  the  celebrated 
music-hall  artiste,  had  rendered  him  an  idol  of  the 
masses  by  singing  in  his  honour :  En  revenant  de  la 
Revue,  and  Pioupious  d'Auvergne.  In  the  country  at 
large,  he  was  styled  Joan  of  Arc's  son,  whose  mission 
it  was  to  revenge  the  nation's  wrongs.  The  famous 
Committee,  with  its  red  pink  as  an  emblem,  determined 
to  put  him  up  as  a  candidate  in  every  by-election ; 
and,  for  this  purpose,  despatched  to  the  four  quarters 
of  France  photographs,  bills,  newspapers  and  procla- 
mations, plus  agents  commissioned  to  organize  sub- 
committees in  even  the  smallest  villages.  Money  was 
spent  without  stint.  The  election  that  sent  the 
General  to  the  Chamber  cost  two  hundred  thousand 
francs.  Private  donors,  the  Count  Dillon  among 
others,  poured  out  their  treasures  at  the  idol's  feet. 
For  writing  the  preface — if  he  did  write  it — of  a  book 
called  the  German  Invasion,  Monsieur  Rouff,  the  pub- 
lisher, paid  him  a  hundred  thousand  francs.  Literally, 
it  was  his  golden  age. 

For  some  weeks  after  taking  his  seat  as  a  Deputy, 
the  General  enjoyed,  outside  the  Chamber,  the  triumph 
of  having  his  carriage  escorted  by  admiring  crowds, 
and,  inside,  of  being  regarded  with  envy  and  apprehen- 
sion, meanwhile  leaving   the   Government   to   pursue 


THE   PRESIDENCY   OF   CARNOT      121 

their  social  legislation  ameliorating  the  position  of 
women  and  children  in  factories  and  insuring  workmen 
against  injuries  received  while  carrying  on  their  trade. 
But  the  moment  arrived  when  Monsieur  Floquet,  being 
invited  by  the  Revisionists  to  state  his  intentions,  was 
compelled  to  answer  that  he  did  not  think  the  time  was 
ripe  for  a  change  of  the  kind.  This  was  Boulanger's 
opportunity.  In  a  long  speech,  violent  in  tone  and 
language,  he  taunted  the  Prime  Minister  for  not 
honouring  the  pledges  given ;  and,  since  the  majority 
did  not  support  his  demand,  he  rose  in  the  Chamber, 
five  weeks  later,  and  laid  before  the  deputies  a  Bill  for 
the  dissolution  of  Parliament,  flinging  the  while  his 
own  resignation  in  their  faces.  This  scene  surpassed 
the  preceding  one  on  account  of  the  strong  language 
employed.  Monsieur  Floquet  accused  the  General  of 
dancing  attendance  in  ante-rooms,  and  the  General 
retorted  with  the  counter- check  quarrelsome,  calling 
Monsieur  Floquet  a  liar.  Of  course,  there  was  a  duel ; 
but  the  civilian  had  the  better  of  the  soldier,  wounding 
him  somewhat  seriously  in  the  neck  ;  an  inch  more  to 
the  right  and  the  consequences  would  have  been  fatal. 
It  happened  that  the  encounter  took  place  on  the  day 
Monsieur  Floquet  was  to  inaugurate  Gambetta's  statue 
by  Aube,  erected  on  the  Place  du  Carrousel.  The 
Prime  Minister  composed  his  speech  in  the  morning 
just  before  going  to  fight.  Time,  place,  circumstances 
combined  to  make  the  ceremony  an  impressive  one. 
The  loss  of  the  great  tribune  had  never  been  more 
keenly  felt. 

Almost  as  fertile  in  incidents  as  the  earlier  ones,  were 
the  closing  months  of  this  critical  year.  The  Comte 
de  Paris,  finding  it  necessary  to  outbid  rival  ambitions, 


122    THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

was  sending  messages  to  the  French  people,  offering  to 
confer  local  independence  on  the  communes  as  the 
price  of  their  accepting  him.  The  General  was  scat- 
tering his  pamphlets,  charging  his  former  colleagues  in 
the  Chamber  with  being  wild  beasts,  epileptics  and 
other  monstrosities.  The  Intransigeant  was  ordering 
Monsieur  Carnot,  whose  recent  visit  to  the  south-east 
seemed  to  prove  he  was  the  right  man  in  the  right 
place,  to  quit  the  Elysee  and  yield  the  Presidency  to 
their  conquering  General,  who  had  just  been  returned 
in  some  fresh  by-elections  held  on  the  19th  of  August. 
To  obtain  this  result,  the  Duchess  d'Uzes  spent  no  less 
than  five  hundred  thousand  francs.  Then  strikes  had 
broken  out  during  the  summer,  that  of  the  Exhibition 
workmen  threatening  to  compromise  the  great  World's 
Show  which  was  preparing ;  and  the  idlers  that  were 
wandering  about  with  nothing  to  do  availed  themselves 
of  the  funeral  of  Eudes,  one  of  the  Commune's  heroes, 
to  create  grave  disturbances  on  the  Place  Voltaire. 
One  of  these  rioters,  who  was  arrested  for  bludgeoning 
a  policeman,  was  found  to  have  a  card  on  him  with  the 
words  :  '  General  Boulanger  thanks  you  for  your  offers 
of  service  and  takes  good  note  so  as  to  have  recourse 
to  them  when  required.'  It  would  appear  that  the 
Revision  crusader  was  not  very  scrupulous  in  recruiting 
his  adherents. 

And  since  misfortunes  never  come  alone,  twice 
during  1888  the  affairs  of  the  French  Panama  Com- 
pany awakened  public  anxiety,  thousands  of  small 
capitalists  having  invested  their  savings  in  the  enter- 
prise of  Monsieur  de  Lesseps  for  piercing  the  American 
isthmus.  In  June,  the  Company,  being  in  want  of 
money,   had    been   allowed   by    Government   to   issue 


THE   PRESIDENCY   OF   CARNOT       123 

lottery  bonds  to  the  value  of  seven  hundred  and 
twenty  millions  of  francs.  Not  quite  half  of  them 
were  taken  up  ;  so  in  December  an  application  was 
made  to  Parliament  for  leave  to  delay  payment  of  the 
coupons,  bonds  and  other  debts  during  a  period  of 
three  months.  This  request  was  refused.  It  was  the 
commencement  of  the  crash  that  subsequently  ruined 
many  modest  families  in  France. 

Under  pressure  of  the  Boulangist  movement,  Mon- 
sieur Floquet  judged  it  would  be  wiser  after  all  to  take 
the  wind  out  of  the  General's  sails,  and  bring  forward 
a  scheme  of  revision  at  once.  He  proposed  to  renew 
the  Lower  Chamber  by  thirds  every  two  years,  instead 
of  integrally  every  four,  and  to  adopt  the  same  system 
for  the  Senate,  depriving  the  Upper  Chamber  of  its 
power  of  dissolution.  With  a  view  to  rendering  the 
Ministers  less  dependent  on  snatch  majorities,  he  in- 
serted a  clause  that  no  Cabinet  should  be  compelled  to 
resign  within  a  space  of  two  years,  except  by  a  formal 
decision  of  Parliament  to  the  effect  that  they  had  lost 
the  confidence  of  the  nation.  Thirdly,  he  projected  a 
State  Council  formed  by  the  two  Chambers  from  a  list 
presented  by  the  various  professions,  which  was  to  have 
a  consultative  voice  in  the  framing,  discussing  and 
passing  of  laws. 

Before  the  scheme  came  on  for  debate,  the  General, 
pursuing  his  plan  of  campaign,  which  consisted  of 
getting  himself  returned  at  each  by-election,  played 
his  trump  card  by  contesting  a  constituency  in  Paris. 
The  poll  was  held  on  the  27th  of  January  in  the  New 
Year.  For  a  whole  week,  the  capital  was  smothered 
with  bills  of  most  motley  colours.  All  the  public 
buildings  were  covered   to  a   height  of  five  and   six 


124     THE   THIRD    FRENCH    REPUBLIC 

yards :  and  even  church  steps  were  carpeted  with 
them.  When  the  votes  were  counted,  it  was  found 
that  Boulanger  had  received  eighty  thousand  more 
than  his  competitor. 

Monsieur  Floquet,  who  had  expected  a  very  different 
issue,  was  now  met  by  the  champion  of  a  Revision 
dwarfing  his  own  to  insignificance.  Under  the  major 
one.  Parliament  went  by  the  board.  The  rule  of  one 
man,  checked  only  by  universal  suffrage,  was  its  sole 
essential  article.  Ministerial  responsibility  disappeared. 
The  door  was  open  for  absolute  monarchy — and  the 
referendum. 

The  Republicans  at  length  perceived  that,  whatever 
other  causes  were  contributing  to  the  reaction,  they 
had  taken  a  false  step  in  substituting,  without  safe- 
guarding its  employment,  the  scrutin  de  liste  for  the 
scrutin  d'arrondissement.  In  the  few  years  that  had 
elapsed  since  the  change,  they  had  steadily  lost  ground. 
If  the  scrutin  de  li.ste  had  not  laid  the  egg  of  Boulan- 
gism,  it  had  helped  to  hatch  it.  For  this  reason  they 
hastened  to  revert  to  the  older  method ;  then,  classing 
both  major  and  minor  Revision  in  the  category  of 
things  it  was  more  expedient  to  postpone  indefinitely, 
they  left  Monsieur  Floquet  in  the  lurch. 

It  was  an  awkward  time  for  Cabinet-making  or 
mending.  The  Exhibition  was  to  throw  open  its  doors 
in  two  or  three  months.  General  Boulanger  and  his 
friends  were  still  on  Parliament's  flanks,  and  Monsieur 
Floquet,  before  resigning,  had  entered  into  negotiations 
with  the  Trade  Unions  of  the  Seine  Department,  who 
were  supporting  the  demands  of  the  Revolutionary 
Socialist  workmen,  made  in  their  congresses  of  the 
preceding    year-end.     These    demands    aimed    at    an 


THE   PRESIDENCY   OF   CARNOT       125 

eight  hours'  work-day,  the  establishment  of  a  minimum 
wage  to  be  determined  for  each  locality,  the  suppres- 
sion of  bargaining  in  hand-labour,  and  a  State  re- 
sponsibility for  the  maintenance  of  children,  old  men 
and  invalids  in  the  working  class. 

Opinions  were  divided  as  to  what  Monsieur  Carnot 
ought  to  do.  Should  he  organize  a  fighting  ministry 
or  an  Exhibition  one  ?  Waldeck  Rousseau  and  the 
Moderates  were  for  the  first  solution.  Monsieur  de 
Freycinet,  through  the  mouth  of  the  Temps,  for  the 
second.  The  President  ultimately  inclined  to  the 
second  ;  and  he  once  more  had  recourse  to  Monsieur 
Tirard.  Nevertheless,  Monsieur  Constans,  the  Minister 
for  the  Interior,  was  not  a  man  to  be  trifled  with,  as 
the  Boulangists  and  the  working-men's  syndicates  soon 
discovered.  He  at  once  put  his  foot  down  on  street 
manifestations,  and  next  proceeded  boldly  against 
the  Patriots'  League  and  its  leading  spirit,  Paul 
Deroulede. 

The  League  was  originally  an  association  patronized 
by  all  the  chiefs  of  the  Republican  party.  It  owed  its 
existence  to  the  war ;  and  was  intended  to  keep  alive 
the  memory  of  the  lost  provinces,  and  to  work  by 
legitimate  means  for  their  recovery.  Gradually  it  had 
drifted  away  from  its  primitive  uses  and  had  been 
deserted  by  men  of  prudence.  In  1887,  it  had  gone 
over  to  the  General  and  become  a  mere  agency  on  his 
behalf. 

A  minor  incident  of  international  reference  furnished 
Monsieur  Constans  with  a  favourable  occasion  of  strik- 
ing a  blow  at  the  League.  In  January,  a  Russian 
enthusiast  named  Atchinoff,  desiring  to  introduce  the 
Greek  religion  into  Abyssinia,  landed  with  some  of  his 


126     THE   THIRD    FRENCH    REPUBLIC 

fellow-countrymen  on  the  French  territory  of  Obock, 
and  installed  himself  at  Sagallo.  The  landing  being 
unauthorized,  he  was  ordered  to  leave ;  and,  as  he 
declined,  a  French  man-of-war  bombarded  his  camp, 
killed  six  of  its  occupants  and  forced  the  remainder 
to  depart.  A  little  less  zeal  on  the  part  of  the  Foreign 
Office,  at  the  time  under  the  control  of  Monsieur 
Goblet,  would  have  equally  well  effected  its  object  and 
spared  the  Cabinet  the  necessity  of  presenting  excuses 
to  the  Russian  Government.  In  circumstances  of  the 
kind,  a  political  opposition  that  respects  itself  usually 
abstains  from  embarrassing  criticism.  The  Patriots' 
League  had  no  such  scruples.  Through  its  accredited 
spokesmen,  Messrs.  Deroulede,  Laguerre  and  Richard, 
it  not  only  blamed  the  Ministry  but  travestied  the  facts 
and  commenced  a  campaign  of  calumny.  The  prosecu- 
tion of  the  League  was  therefore  decided  on ;  and  the 
Chamber's  permission  was  secured  to  comprise  several 
deputies  in  the  number  of  defendants.  The  debate 
was  one  of  exceptional  acrimony.  General  Boulanger 
did  not  speak ;  but,  three  days  after,  he  made  up  for 
his  silence  by  pronouncing  at  a  grand  banquet  at  Tours 
an  oration  containing,  amidst  much  fantastic  abuse,  a 
programme  intended  to  rally  the  Catholic  Conservatives 
to  his  standard. 

By  the  French  Constitution,  offences  such  as  the 
League  was  accused  of  are  tried  by  a  tribunal  known 
as  the  Haute  Cour  and  formed  from  the  members  of 
the  Senate.  In  the  impeachment  drawn  up  for  this 
one  to  consider,  Boulanger  was  included,  as  belonging 
to  a  so-called  secret  society  that  was  plotting  against 
the  State.  To  the  surprise  of  his  friends  as  well  as  of 
his  enemies,  he  did  not  stay  to  brave  the  ordeal.     On 


THE    PRESIDENCY   OF   CARNOT       127 

the  1st  of  April,  he  quitted  Paris  in  disguise  and 
escaped  across  the  frontier  to  Brussels.  At  first,  people 
hardly  believed  the  news.  After  all  the  lofty  talk  of 
the  previous  twelve  months,  this  anti-climax  fringed  on 
the  ridiculous.  The  flight  was  certainly  not  counselled 
by  the  lesser  chiefs  of  the  movement,  although  some  of 
them  chivalrously  accepted  the  onus  of  it.  Monsieur 
Thiebaud,  who,  as  much  as  any  one,  had  contributed  to 
the  hero's  victories,  did  not  hide  his  disappointment. 
'  When  a  man,'  he  said,  '  embraces  the  cause  of  the 
nation  against  an  exploiting  oligarchy,  it  is  not  in  order 
to  enjoy  himself.'  Monsieur  Constans  had  the  most 
reason  to  be  proud.  It  was  his  initiative  which  had 
pricked  the  bubble.  In  excuse  of  his  action,  the 
General  wrote  from  the  Belgian  capital  that  he  was 
willing  to  return  and  be  tried  before  a  jury,  but  not 
before  his  political  adversaries.  The  apology  was  a 
plausible  one,  the  objection  was  pertinent ;  perhaps, 
however,  the  real  motive  was  his  fear  of  being  separ- 
ated from  the  lady  on  whose  tomb  he  subsequently 
shot  himself,  and  for  whose  sake  he  had  divorced  his 
wife,  while  he  was  Minister  for  War.  The  proceedings 
of  the  Haute  Cour  lost  their  interest  through  the  disap- 
pearance of  the  principal  defendant,  and  not  even  the 
somewhat  theatrical  attitude  of  the  Procureur-General, 
Monsieur  Quesnay  de  Beaurepaire,  afterwards  to  be- 
come more  notorious  in  the  Dreyfus  affair,  sufficed  to 
retain  the  public's  attention.  Some  spasmodic  efforts 
at  revival  occurred  later,  but  life  had  gone  out  of  the 
Boulangist  movement. 

Politically,  there  was  now  no  further  obstacle  to 
hinder  the  success  of  the  Exhibition.  And  yet  clouds 
hovered  in  the  atmosphere  which  darkened  for  many 


128     THE   THIRD   FRENCH    REPUBLIC 

the  approaching  festivities.  Early  in  March,  a  panic 
had  been  created  at  the  Bourse  by  the  suicide  of 
Monsieur  Denfert-Rochereau,  manager  of  the  Comp- 
toir  d'Escompte,  one  of  the  most  important  banks  in 
France.  A  rush  of  depositors  immediately  ensued ; 
at  one  moment,  indeed,  it  seemed  as  though  the  whole 
of  the  Paris  market  would  be  involved  in  the  disaster. 
Fortunately,  on  account  of  the  semi-official  character 
of  the  establishment,  Monsieur  Rouvier,  the  Finance 
Minister,  intervened  to  the  extent  of  inducing  other 
banking  establishments  to  lend  their  credit,  and  some 
of  the  worst  consequences  were  partially  averted.  For 
the  holders  of  Panama  shares  there  was  no  such  luck. 
The  Company  having  suspended  its  payments,  a  large 
number  of  petty  investors,  who  had  risked  their  econo- 
mies in  what  looked  to  be  an  undertaking  of  the 
soundest  kind,  saw  their  hopes  of  profit  vanish  with 
the  placing  of  its  affairs  in  the  hands  of  a  liquidator. 
How  irremediable  the  situation  of  the  Company  was 
only  came  to  light  little  by  little  ;  this  gradual  revelation 
diminished  the  shock  without  lessening  the  loss. 

The  promoters  of  the  Exhibition  had  been  stimu- 
lated in  their  endeavours  by  the  desire  to  make  their 
work  worthy  of  its  centenary  character.  Larger  and 
more  varied  than  its  predecessor  of  1878,  more  compact 
and  original  than  its  successor  of  1900,  the  1889 
World's  Show,  with  its  Eiffel  Tower  three  hundred 
metres  high,  its  huge  Gallery  of  Machines  stretching 
across  the  Champ  de  Mars,  its  two  spacious  side  gal- 
leries devoted  respectively  to  the  Arts  and  Sciences,  its 
quaint  street  of  Cairo,  and  charming  edifices  in  the 
Trocadero  and  on  the  banks  of  the  Seine,  not  to  speak 
of  its  water  railway  realizing  a  speed  of  over  a  hundred 


-y. 


*0 

M  — 


go  I 


.    DC 


a  £ 


THE   PRESIDENCY   OF   CARNOT       129 

kilometres  an  hour,  presented  a  variety  of  structure 
and  colouring  that  was  at  once  harmonious  and  dainty. 
And  in  the  gloaming  of  the  May  evening,  when  the 
tinted  fountains  began  to  play,  those  who  had  assisted 
at  the  sights  of  the  day  were  for  a  brief  spell  trans- 
ported into  a  region  of  fancy  and  fairyland.  The  same 
impression  was  renewed  on  the  14th  of  July,  when, 
from  the  gates  of  the  Bois  de  Boulogne  right  up  the 
Avenue  and  down  the  Champs  Elysees,  myriads  of 
rainbows  and  iridescent  fireworks  rose  and  hovered  in 
the  air,  suggesting  a  rapprochement  of  old  and  new, 
and  opening  the  vista  backward  on  the  century  that 
Chevreul,  the  great  chemist,  just  dead  at  the  age 
of  a  hundred  odd,  had  seen  pass  away,  and  forward  on 
the  future  with  its  vast  promise  of  fresh  power  and 
conquest  in  every  domain  of  human  activity. 

Almost  the  last  act  of  the  Legislature  before  the 
General  Elections  in  September  was  to  reduce  the 
five  years'  military  service  to  three,  while  maintaining 
for  those  that  possessed  a  degree  from  one  of  the  higher 
educational  institutions  a  period  of  one  year  only. 
A  law  of  greater  permanence  that  figures  to  its  credit 
was  one  providing  for  the  reclaiming  of  children 
morally  abandoned  by  their  natural  guardians.  It 
also  passed  a  Bill  forbidding  plural  candidatures,  in- 
tended to  check  the  manoeuvres  of  Boulanger's  re- 
maining partisans.  In  August,  the  trial  of  Boulanger, 
Dillon  and  Rochefort  was  held  by  the  Haute  Cour. 
None  of  the  accused  were  present.  All  three  were 
found  guilty  of  plotting  against  the  State's  security, 
and  the  General,  besides,  of  embezzling  the  secret  funds. 
The  sentence  of  imprisonment  pronounced  against  him 
restored  him  a  modicum  of  popularity  during  the  elec- 


130     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

tion  period.  When,  however,  the  results  were  declared 
and  it  was  known  that  the  Republicans  had  a  majority 
of  over  a  hundred  and  fifty,  he  was  definitely  dropped 
by  those  who  had  been  his  firmest  supporters.  The 
Soleil  newspaper  wrote  that  Boulanger's  trace  would 
vanish  like  a  vessel's  wake.  The  Gaulois  said  a  briefer 
good-night. 

This  turn  of  the  tide  gave  food  for  reflection  to  a 
portion  of  the  Rights,  who,  seeking  how  they  might 
render  their  opposition  more  useful  to  their  own  ideas, 
resolved  they  would  cease  contesting  the  Republican 
Constitution  and  form  a  group  of  independent  rallies. 
Their  secession  reduced  the  Royalists  and  Imperialists 
to  a  mere  fraction.  It  was  so  much  gained  to  be  rid  of 
the  danger  of  a  revolution ;  but  the  profit  would  have 
been  greater  had  the  Republicans  themselves  been 
more  disciplined,  less  disposed  to  split  up  into  sections 
on  trivial  grounds,  more  capable  of  producing  a  durable 
government. 

The  Exhibition  closed  in  November  amidst  fetes  that 
were  justified  by  its  unique  character  and  financial 
success.  It  left  behind  it  a  real  satisfaction,  arising 
both  from  gratified  amour  propre  and  the  evidence  that 
the  nation's  pulse  was  beating  as  vigorously  as  ever. 
Monsieur  Carnot  had  done  his  part,  now  entertaining 
the  Shah,  now  presiding  at  the  banquet  of  the  eighteen 
thousand  mayors  invited  by  the  Town  Council,  now 
opening  the  new  Sorbonne,  which  had  replaced  the  old 
University  on  the  same  site  in  the  Quartier  Latin, 
where  the  youth  of  the  schools  had  assembled  ever 
since  the  days  of  Abelard. 

Monsieur  Tirard's  Cabinet  survived  the  elections,  but 
only  for  a  few  months.     The  personality  of  Monsieur 


THE   PRESIDENCY   OF   CARNOT       131 

Constans,  who  was  the  real  inspirer  of  its  policy,  imposed 
a  change,  the  rather  as  talented  younger  men,  like 
Ribot  and  Bourgeois,  were  coming  into  prominence, 
and  Monsieur  Meline,  with  his  ultra-Protectionist 
doctrines,  was  winning  disciples.  Its  last  days  coincided 
with  the  arrest  and  condemnation  of  the  young  Duke 
of  Orleans,  son  of  the  Comte  de  Paris,  for  violating  the 
law  of  banishment.  Having  reached  the  age  at  which 
Frenchmen  are  required  to  do  their  military  service,  he 
came  to  Paris  and  claimed  his  right  to  be  enlisted. 
His  step  was  ill-advised.  Instead  of  arousing  any 
excitement  or  sympathy,  it  made  people  laugh  ;  and 
the  boys  in  the  street  called  him  Prince  Gamelle,  or 
Porringer,  a  name  which  has  since  stuck  to  him.  The 
authorities  probably  thinking  that,  if  they  merely 
reconducted  the  Duke  to  the  frontier,  he  would  repeat 
his  prank,  sent  him  to  the  Police  Court,  which 
sentenced  him  to  two  years'  imprisonment.  Monsieur 
Carnot,  of  course,  remitted  his  penalty  after  a  few 
months'  incarceration.  Whether  this  incident  accentu- 
ated the  differences  between  the  Minister  for  the 
Interior  and  his  nominal  chief  is  not  certain.  At  any 
rate.  Monsieur  Constans  resigned  shortly  afterwards. 
The  Prime  Minister  tried  to  make  good  the  loss  by 
taking  Leon  Bourgeois  in  his  place  ;  but  the  thing 
did  not  work  ;  he  had  wound  the  clock  up  badly,  said 
the  journalists,  alluding  to  his  former  profession. 

For  a  fourth  time,  Monsieur  de  Freycinet  was  placed 
at  the  head  of  affairs,  with  some  of  the  younger  bloods, 
Fallieres,  Rouvier,  Bourgeois,  Ribot,  to  help  him,  and 
Constans  back  at  his  old  post  of  the  Interior.  Dame 
Fortune  was  kind  to  him  and  to  the  country  during 
the  first  of  his  two  years  of  office.    At  home,  everything 


132     THE   THIRD    FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

was  tranquil,  even  the  manifestation  of  the  1st  of  May  ; 
and,  abroad,  arrangements  were  being  made  with 
England  respecting  Dahomey,  Madagascar,  the  basin  of 
the  Gambia,  Zanzibar  and  the  Sudan.  In  Dahomey, 
King  Glegle"  had  for  a  while  contested  the  validity  of 
treaties  he  had  made  with  France  ;  and,  taking  prisoner 
the  Lieutenant-Governor,  Monsieur  Bayol,  had  forced 
him  to  assist  at  some  of  his  horrible  sacrifices.  Troops 
were  sent,  and,  temporarily,  submission  was  offered. 

More  piquant  than  creditable  was  the  publication  of 
the  Coulisses,  or  side-scenes  of  Boulangism.  The  author 
was  a  Monsieur  Terrail-Mermeix,  who  had  been  re- 
turned to  Parliament  for  one  of  the  most  aristocratic 
quarters  of  Paris.  He  revealed  what  was  already 
suspected,  that  the  Orleans  family  had  subsidized 
Boulanger,  that  there  had  been  a  real  plot  to  bring 
about  a  coup  d'etat,  and  that  Boulanger,  while  on  active 
service,  had  paid  a  visit  to  Prince  Napoleon.  Almost 
simultaneously  with  these  documents  was  published 
Cardinal  Lavigerie's  letter  to  his  clergy,  advising  them 
to  frankly  accept  the  Republic,  as  Pope  Leo  XIII 
had  done.  The  advice  was  needed ;  for,  during  the 
Boulangist  struggle,  most  of  the  priests  that  had 
influence  had  used  it  against  the  Government. 

In  Parliament,  social  legislation  was  the  order  of  the 
day ;  miners  were  being  protected  in  their  labour ; 
large  families  of  the  working  class  were  relieved  from 
taxation ;  poor  communes  were  allowed  to  combine 
for  the  carrying  out  of  works  of  public  utility.  With 
all  this,  the  credit  of  the  country  was  good,  a  large 
three  per  cent  loan  contracted  by  the  Finance  Minister 
being  covered  more  than  fifteen  times  over. 

At    the    beginning    of    the    new    year,    Monsieur 


THE   PRESIDENCY   OF   CARNOT       133 

Clemenceau  first  put  forward  his  doctrine,  since 
become  famous,  of  the  Revolution  of  1789  being  a 
block  that  must  be  approved  or  disapproved  altogether. 
The  occasion  was  a  great  debate  over  Monsieur  Sardou's 
play  of  Thermidor,  which,  in  its  first  performances  at 
the  Comedie  Francaise,  had  evoked  such  strong  protes- 
tations on  the  part  of  some  of  the  public  that  Coquelin, 
who  was  playing  the  role  of  the  comedian  Labussiere, 
was  obliged  to  quit  the  stage,  and  the  play  was  sus- 
pended by  the  order  of  Monsieur  Constans.  In  his 
piece,  the  dramatist  had  handled  the  Revolution 
rather  severely ;  and  Monsieur  Clemenceau  in  his 
speech  retorted  on  the  eighteenth -century  ancestors  of 
the  Monarchist  members  by  asserting  that  they  were 
either  siding  with  Frances  enemies  at  the  moment  of 
the  Revolution  or  were  engaged  in  the  Vendee  rebel- 
lion, stabbing  their  mother-country  in  the  back.  The 
controversy  was  not  one  that  politics  could  settle.  It 
is  patent  enough  to  the  student  that  the  Revolution,  in 
sweeping  away  injustices  of  the  worst  kind,  was  itself 
guilty  of  injustice.  But  it  was  a  political  reaction ; 
and,  as  Clemenceau  boldly  owned,  in  politics  there  is 
no  justice. 

Scarcely  had  the  emotion  excited  by  this  storm  in  a 
teacup  been  calmed  when  the  public  were  again  flut- 
tered by  the  news  that  the  Empress  Frederick  of 
Prussia  was  about  to  visit  Paris,  intending  to  invite  the 
French  artists  to  the  Berlin  Exhibition.  She  arrived 
and,  during  her  sojourn  in  the  capital,  went  with  the 
German  Ambassador,  Count  Von  Munster,  to  see  the 
Gallery  of  Mirrors  at  Versailles,  where  the  old 
Wilhelm  I  had  been  proclaimed  Emperor,  and  from 
there  to  Saint-Cloud,  to  inspect  the  ruins  of  Napoleon's 


134    THE  THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

palace.  These  excursions,  which  were  innocent  enough, 
aroused  the  ire  of  the  ever-zealous  and  too-susceptible 
Deroulede ;  and,  in  company  with  the  members  of  the 
ex-League  of  Patriots,  he  proceeded  to  place  a  wreath 
of  flowers  on  the  grave  of  Henri  Regnault,  in  front  of 
which  the  Empress  had  paused  a  few  days  before  at  the 
Ecole  des  Beaux-Arts.  Some  Chauvinist  journalists 
next  dipped  their  pens  in  gall :  and  false  interpretations 
were  put  upon  the  motives  of  both  the  Empress  and 
her  son.  Certain  German  newspapers  replied  in  biting 
tones ;  and,  but  for  the  conciliatory  efforts  of  the 
English  Press,  mischief  might  have  been  made.  Even 
as  it  was,  the  artists  who  had  promised  to  exhibit 
at  Berlin  withdrew  their  consent  through  the  medium 
of  the  painter  Edouard  Detaille ;  and  the  German 
Government,  answering  tit-for-tat,  instructed  the 
Governor- General  of  Alsace-Lorraine  to  cease  his 
complaisance  in  granting  passports. 

Monsieur  Meline,  the  French  MacKinley,  had  not 
yet  reached  the  goal  of  his  ambition,  which  was  to 
achieve  the  conversion  of  France  to  Protectionism  ;  but 
he  was  making  progress.  His  method  was  more  open 
to  criticism  than  his  doctrine.  During  the  long  discus- 
sion over  the  Customs  duties,  which  occupied  most  of 
the  spring  session  of  1891.  he  showed  that  he  regarded 
Protection  too  much  as  a  remedy  for  every  deficiency 
instead  of  as  a  legitimate  weapon  of  defence.  His 
Free  Trade  opponents,  Leon  Say,  Leroy-Beaulieu  and 
Lockroy,  jousted  with  him  bravely.  There  was  even 
some  hurling  of  epithets,  the  apostle  of  Protection 
being  called  the  Torquemada  of  Beetroot,  and  Mon- 
sieur Leroy-Beaulieu,  the  bishop  of  Free  Trade. 

In  the  domain  of  capital  and  labour,  the  conflict  of 


THE   PRESIDENCY   OF   CARNOT       135 

interests  continued  to  multiply  its  effects.  An  inter- 
national congress  of  miners  held  in  Paris  early  in  the 
year  had  decreed  the  cessation  of  all  work  on  the  1st 
of  May,  and  a  popular  manifestation  on  behalf  of  the 
workmen's  charter,  the  eight  hours  day  and  a  mini- 
mum wage.  Everything  passed  off  quietly,  except  at 
Fourmies,  where  the  troops,  to  stop  a  riot,  fired  on  the 
crowd  and  caused  loss  of  life.  Regrettable  as  both 
outbreak  and  repression  were,  the  Government  had 
done  no  more  than  their  duty,  so  that  the  same  de- 
puties who  once  a  week  had  what  was  termed  their 
Workmen's  Wednesday,  devoted  to  the  study  of  social 
legislation,  were  compelled  to  approve  the  minister 
Constans  in  his  endeavours  to  preserve  order. 

Monsieur  de  Freycinet  was  less  happy  in  dealing 
with  the  Turpin  affair.  Turpin  was  an  inventor  who 
had  offered  his  country  the  secret  of  manufacturing 
melinite.  The  offer  not  being  accepted,  he  sold  it  to 
the  English  firm  of  Armstrong.  This  was  in  1885  ;  and 
now,  some  years  after,  he  was  arrested,  together  with 
Tripone,  an  artillery  captain  in  the  territorial  army, 
whom  he  had  denounced  as  the  author  of  certain 
thefts,  and  was  condemned  to  five  years'  imprisonment. 
Monsieur  de  Freycinet's  own  action  in  the  matter  was 
both  inconsistent  and  unsatisfactory.  Either  Turpin 
ought  to  have  been  tried  earlier  or  not  at  all.  Tech- 
nically, he  had  committed  no  offence ;  and  his  con- 
demnation was  obtained  only  by  straining  justice. 
True,  there  was  the  question  of  patriotism  ;  by  playing 
on  this  chord,  the  Prime  Minister  obtained  from  the 
Chamber  a  grudging  subscription  to  his  action ;  but 
his  position  was  by  no  means  strengthened. 

A  second  step  was  taken,  in  the  July  of  1891,  to- 


136     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

wards  the  Franco-Russian  Alliance.  The  French  fleet, 
under  Admiral  Gervais.  sailed  to  Cronstadt,  after 
visiting  Norway  and  Sweden.  There  the  Czar,  who 
welcomed  the  officers  and  men  in  person,  listened 
standing  to  the  Marseillaise,  and  spoke  words  that 
seemed  to  imply  willingness  to  join  hands  with  France, 
if  not  in  formal  alliance,  at  least  in  an  entente  cordiale. 
To  this  journey,  which  was  prolonged  as  far  as  St. 
Petersburg  and  Moscow,  where  the  visitors  met  with 
enthusiastic  receptions,  additional  emphasis  was  given 
by  Queen  Victoria's  also  personally  passing  a  review  of 
a  French  squadron  at  Portsmouth  in  the  following 
month.  The  Emperor  of  Germany  evinced  his  recog- 
nition of  its  importance  by  relaxing  the  recent  severity 
displayed  in  Alsace-Lorraine,  and  by  prudently  neg- 
lecting to  notice  a  fresh  anti-German  explosion  of 
feeling  over  the  performance  of  Wagner's  Lohengrin 
at  the  Opera. 

Three  political  personages  who  had  been  much 
spoken  of  in  the  close  of  the  eighties  died  this  year, 
Jules  Grevy  and  Boulanger  in  September,  and  Prince 
Joseph-Charles-Paul,  called  Jerome  Napoleon,  in  March. 
The  Prince,  who  was  a  son  of  the  King  of  Westphalia, 
was  a  man  of  keen  intelligence ;  and  during  his  life 
had  posed  with  some  success  as  a  Caesar-demagogue. 
Liked  by  the  Emperor  Louis-Napoleon,  he  had 
opposed  the  Empress  Eugenie,  and  made  himself  the 
rallying  centre  of  a  small  circle  of  Jrondeurs,  including 
Emile  de  Girardin,  Sainte-Beuve,  Taine  and  Renan. 
A  poor  soldier,  a  bad  administrator,  an  incorrect  but 
persuasive  orator,  he  was  always  committing  some 
indiscretion,  from  the  consequences  of  which  he  was 
wont  to  escape  by  travelling  abroad.     Continuing  his 


THE   PRESIDENCY   OF   CARNOT       137 

plots  after  the  fall  of  the  Empire,  he  was  exiled  by 
Thiers,  and  ultimately  so  discredited  himself  with  the 
Imperialist  party  that  even  his  son  Victor  was  com- 
pelled to  disavow  him.  From  the  Crimean  War,  in 
which  he  temporarily  held  a  command,  he  brought 
back  his  nickname,  Plon-Plon,  which  stuck  to  him  as 
long  as  he  lived. 

In  spite  of  the  Pope's  counsels,  and  in  spite  of 
Cardinal  Lavigerie's  efforts  to  show  the  Catholic  clergy 
the  peril  of  their  behaviour,  the  Bishops  for  the  most 
part  had  not  abandoned  their  habit  of  defying  the 
civil  authority  and  setting  themselves  up  as  judges 
of  its  acts.  In  September,  a  pilgrimage  of  French 
working  men,  led  by  the  Comte  de  Mun  and  Cardinal 
Langenieux,  arrived  in  Rome,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
another  one,  largely  French  too,  composed  of  Catholic 
youths.  At  St.  Peter's,  the  pilgrims  were  able  to 
acclaim  the  Pope  as  King  without  any  notice  being 
taken  ;  but,  when,  during  a  visit  to  the  Pantheon  of 
Agrippa,  one  of  them  wrote  in  the  visitors'  book 
Vive  le  Roi-Pape,  three  arrests  were  made.  For  the 
rest  of  the  day,  the  carriages  transporting  pilgrims 
were  pursued  and  hooted  by  the  crowd,  who  lustily 
cheered  the  Royal  Family.  The  news  of  this  display 
of  bad  taste  spread  through  the  peninsula  and  pro- 
voked an  expression  of  hostile  feeling  against  France, 
which  considerably  annoyed  the  Cabinet.  Monsieur 
Fallieres,  as  Minister  of  Public  Worship,  sent  a  circular 
to  the  Episcopacy  advising  them  to  discourage  mani- 
festations of  the  kind  as  being  prejudicial  to  the 
interests  of  the  Church.  The  Archbishop  of  Aix  re- 
plied in  an  exceedingly  virulent  letter  accusing  the 
masters  of  the  day  of  missing  no  opportunity  to  attack 


138     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

and  insult  the  Catholic  faith,  which  had  been  the 
making  of  Italy  and  France.  '  Peace  is  sometimes  on 
your  lips,'  he  said,  '  but  hatred  and  persecution  are 
always  in  your  hearts.'  The  tone  of  this  missive  con- 
trasted singularly  with  the  humble  solicitations  made 
some  while  before  by  the  same  Monsieur  Gouthe- 
Soulard  with  a  view  to  obtain  his  episcopal  appoint- 
ment. It  was  in  fact  only  too  common  that,  under 
the  Republic,  the  very  men  who  as  simple  priests  went 
hat  in  hand  to  the  Minister  and  pledged  themselves 
to  be  pillars  of  the  State  were  no  sooner  in  possession 
of  their  mitre  and  staff  than  they  turned  round  on  the 
power  that  had  raised  them  to  their  dignity.  As  it 
was  impossible  to  tolerate  such  language  from  a  paid 
official,  the  Government  summoned  him  before  a  Court 
of  Appeal,  which  condemned  him  to  a  fine  of  three 
thousand  francs.  His  offence  was  aggravated  by  the 
fact  of  his  having  on  this  occasion  written  a  book,  with 
a  number  of  his  brother  bishops  to  help,  in  which  the 
tone  was  still  more  arrogant.  As  a  counter-effect, 
arose  the  demand  for  disestablishment,  which,  though 
failing  for  a  while  to  win  over  the  majority,  went  on 
gathering  impetus  from  each  repetition  of  clerical 
anathemas.  That  disestablishment  would  come  at  no 
distant  date  was  seen  by  the  nature  of  the  Bill  brought 
forward  to  submit  all  the  Religious  Orders  to  restric- 
tions and  taxes  they  had  previously  escaped.  It  was 
the  thin  end  of  the  wedge,  which  twelve  years  later 
was  to  be  driven  straight  in. 

The  Prime  Minister,  natheless  his  skill,  did  not  get 
the  deputies  to  vote  his  proposal.  The  new  year 
had  begun ;  and  after  a  couple  of  twelvemonths  they 
wanted  a  change.     On  the  whole,  Monsieur  de  Frey- 


raph:   Hulloz 

CLEMENCEAU    ADDRESSING    A    MEETING 


From  the  Picture  bv  RAFFAELLI 


THE   PRESIDENCY   OF   CARNOT       139 

cinet  had  cut  a  better  figure  in  his  last  spell  of  office 
and  had  scored  some  notable  successes,  not  the  least  of 
which  was  his  fine  speech  during  a  strike  of  thirty- 
thousand  workmen  in  the  north  of  France,  a  speech 
that  contributed  to  the  settlement  of  the  quarrel. 
The  Marquis  de  Rochefort,  according  to  habit,  was 
discontented ;  and,  as  a  New  Year's  gift,  made  such 
outrageous  charges  against  Monsieur  Constans  that  they 
were  noticed  in  Parliament  during  a  famous  sitting 
called  the  Seance  des  Gifles.  Monsieur  Laur,  one  of 
the  interpellating  deputies,  had  a  box  on  the  ears 
from  the  Minister  attacked,  Monsieur  Castelin,  a 
punch  from  Monsieur  Delpech ;  and  Monsieur  Laur, 
passing  on  his  cuff*  with  interest,  flung  a  volume  at 
Monsieur  Mir. 

Faithful  to  his  custom  of  applying  to  an  outsider 
when  the  old  stagers  refused,  President  Carnot  asked 
Monsieur  Loubet  to  try  what  he  could  do  as  Premier, 
and  he  accepted.  There  was  very  little  displacement 
of  portfolios.  De  Freycinet  remained  at  the  War 
Office.  The  principal  disappearance  was  that  of 
Monsieur  Constans,  who  shortly  after  exchanged 
politics  for  diplomacy  and  went  as  Ambassador  to 
Constantinople,  where  he  has  since  been,  rendering  as 
good  service  to  his  country  as  he  did  during  the  period 
of  Boulangism.  Monsieur  Loubet,  who  was  of  farm- 
ing stock,  had  made  his  mark  at  the  Bar  and  in  Parlia- 
ment by  dint  of  sheer  hard  work,  and  was  more  noted 
for  affability  and  sterling  sense  than  for  any  particular 
brilliancy  of  talent. 

Partly,  no  doubt,  because  of  his  origin,  and  partly 
too  on  account  of  the  greater  power  of  the  Trade 
Unions,  who  inaugurated  their  Bourse  de  Travail  in 


140    THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

this  year,  he  exhibited  in  his  opening  statements  a 
larger  preoccupation  with  the  social  problem  than  most 
of  those  who  had  preceded  him.  The  democratic 
regime  was  more  unreservedly  preconized  as  having  for 
its  condition  of  existence  the  sovereignty  of  universal 
suffrage  and  the  absolute  independence  of  civil  society, 
and  for  aim  the  equitable  distribution  of  charges  and 
advantages,  and  the  progressive  elevation  of  all  to  a 
proper  level  of  moral  and  material  welfare.  The  same 
accent  of  sympathy  with  the  masses  was  perceptible  in 
the  projects  for  the  betterment  of  their  lot.  A  good 
slice  was  taken  from  the  Socialist  programme,  even  as 
far  as  a  National  Pension  Fund,  which,  however,  is  still 
only  partially  realized. 

If  no  more  than  one  of  Monsieur  Loubet's  reforms 
became  law  while  he  was  Prime  Minister,  to  wit,  the 
regulation  of  women  and  children's  work  in  factories, 
the  fault  was  not  his.  When  anarchists  begin  to 
throw  bombs,  members  of  Parliament  are  apt  to  shrink 
back  into  their  human  egoisms.  And  1892  was  an 
anarchists'  year.  Within  two  months,  no  fewer  than 
five  outrages  were  committed,  four  by  the  same  man, 
Ravachol,  and  the  fifth  by  some  accomplice,  to  avenge 
his  arrest.  The  first  three  explosions  were  not  very 
serious ;  but  the  last  two,  in  the  Rue  de  Clichy  and  at 
the  Very  Restaurant  situated  in  the  Boulevard  de 
Magenta,  where  Ravachol  had  been  arrested,  were 
much  more  destructive,  one  of  them  causing  loss 
of  life  and  limb.  For  a  while,  Paris  assumed  the 
aspect  of  a  city  under  martial  law ;  theatres  and 
museums  were  barricaded,  troops  filled  the  suburbs, 
and  the  police  were  everywhere.  Gradually  the  panic 
lessened  ;  notwithstanding  Ravachol's  execution,  how- 


THE   PRESIDENCY   OF   CARNOT       141 

ever,  two  other  bomb  outrages  occurred  before  the  end 
of  the  year,  one  of  them  resulting  in  the  death  of  five 
people. 

In  the  meantime,  the  conflict  between  Church  and 
State  was  producing  disorders  of  another  kind.  Since 
many  of  the  clergy  had  taken  the  habit  of  attacking  in 
their  pulpits  the  so-called  godless  Republic  and  its 
schools  of  perdition,  a  number  of  free-thinking  citizens 
had  begun  to  attend  the  preaching  of  these  militants 
and  to  contradict  them.  Frequently  the  sermon  ended 
with  cat-calls,  the  Marseillaise,  and  a  battle  of  chairs. 
This  was  the  case  in  several  parts  of  France.  Instead 
of  being  places  of  worship,  the  churches  were  gradually 
becoming  political  platforms.  Leo  XIII,  whose  notice 
had  been  drawn  to  the  frequency  of  such  disturbances, 
now  spoke  out  more  plainly  and  commanded  the 
Bishops  to  make  no  further  ado,  but  to  bow  to  the 
existing  form  of  government  without  recrimination.  At 
the  same  time,  he  dissolved  the  Union  de  la  France 
Chretienne,  a  fighting  association  patronized  by  Car- 
dinal Richard,  Archbishop  of  Paris,  with  the  hope  of 
thus  silencing  the  noisier  of  the  Catholic  laity.  But,  as 
Ferdinand  Fabre  has  shown  in  his  novels,  the  Pope's 
power  over  Catholic  Christendom  is  less  than  that  of 
the  Jesuits.  And  in  France  the  Jesuits  have  always 
fought  with  desperate  energy  against  any  authority 
threatening  their  own.  Violating  the  edict  of  expul- 
sion, they  had  come  back  into  the  country,  and  were 
again  extending  their  operations.  In  the  north  they 
had  founded,  under  the  title  of  '  Notre  Dame  de 
l'Usine,'  a  huge,  clerical,  reactionary  union,  which  they 
intended  should  capture  all  the  workmen.  With  a 
view  to  accomplishing  this  end  they  exerted  pressure 


142     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

on  employers  to  prevent  them  from  engaging  any  but 
members  of  the  Union.  It  was  clandestine  manoeuvring 
the  civil  power  had  to  contend  against  at  present, 
manoeuvring  of  men  who  claimed  liberty  for  them- 
selves and  denied  the  smallest  parcel  of  it  to  their 
fellows. 

The  year  1892  being  the  centenary  of  the  proclama- 
tion of  the  First  Republic,  the  event  was  celebrated  by 
special  fetes  in  September.  In  Paris,  the  grand  pro- 
cession to  the  Pantheon,  and  a  cavalcade  along  the 
boulevards,  exhibiting  a  retrospective  history  of  military 
uniforms  and  dress,  attracted  crowds  of  admirers. 

By  now,  Monsieur  Carnot  was  a  well-known  figure 
in  public  ceremonies.  Like  other  potentates,  he  had 
been  laid  hold  of  by  the  caricaturists  who,  unable  to 
rob  him  of  his  amiable  features,  represented  his  some- 
what angular  person  and  precision  of  manner  under 
the  movements  of  an  automaton.  His  receptions  at 
the  Elysee  were  very  different  from  those  of  Monsieur 
Grevy.  There  was  a  good  deal  more  etiquette  ob- 
served. As  the  deputies  used  to  remark  to  each 
other :  '  With  Monsieur  Grevy,  we  were  just  as  if  in 
our  own  homes  ;  but,  with  Monsieur  Carnot,  we  feel  we 
are  at  the  Elysee,  in  the  house  of  the  President.' 

Behanzin,  the  King  of  Dahomey,  having  broken  the 
treaty  of  1890,  an  expedition  had  just  been  sent 
against  his  capital,  Abomey.  General  Dodds  was  at 
the  head  of  both  land  and  river  forces  ;  and  the  flotilla 
operating  on  the  Ivory  Coast  was  under  a  separate 
command,  that  of  the  Admiral  of  the  squadron.  The 
dual  control  being  a  hindrance  to  quick  and  effective 
action,  vigorous  protests  were  made  in  the  Chamber ; 
but  Monsieur  Cavaignac,  the  Minister  for  the  Marine, 


THE   PRESIDENCY    OF   CARNOT       143 

defending  rather  the  traditions  of  his  Department,  which 
was  jealous  of  the  War  Office,  refused  to  modify  any- 
thing ;  and,  when  the  deputies  insisted,  he  retired,  like 
Achilles,  to  his  tent,  leaving  his  portfolio  to  Mon- 
sieur Burdeau,  the  Vice-President  of  the  Lower 
Chamber. 

Burdeau  belonged  to  the  younger  band  of  rising 
politicians — Etienne,  Jamais,  Delcasse',  Millerand.  Both 
he  and  Monsieur  Jamais,  who  was  Under-Secretary 
of  State  for  the  Colonies,  were  prematurely  cut 
off  before  they  had  given  the  full  measure  of  their 
abilities. 

It  was  hard  on  Monsieur  Loubet  that  the  liquidation 
of  the  Panama  Company  developed,  while  he  was 
Premier,  into  a  scandal  that  compromised  Parliament 
itself.  And  Fate  was  unkind,  for  neither  directly  nor 
indirectly  had  he  been  concerned  in  its  antecedents.  If 
any  blame  could  attach  to  him,  it  was  only  on  account 
of  his  reluctance  to  yield  to  the  popular  demand  for 
every  responsibility  to  be  uncovered.  There  had  been, 
as  he  found,  delinquencies  even  among  Ministers,  and 
he  naturally  wished  to  shield  old  colleagues. 

But  under  a  democratic  regime  it  was  not  possible 
to  hide  things  as  when  aristocracy  ruled.  Already  for 
months  certain  organs  of  the  opposition  Press  had 
been  harping  on  the  fact  that,  though  the  embezzlement 
of  the  Company's  money  was  averred,  the  Government 
tarried  and  dallied,  and  no  prosecution  was  begun.  At 
last,  in  November,  Monsieur  Ricard,  the  Minister  for 
Justice,  was  obliged  to  announce  that  four  Panama 
directors  and  one  contractor  were  to  be  prosecuted ; 
and  Monsieur  Floquet,  the  President  of  the  Chamber, 
cutting   short  the   accusations  aimed   at  himself,  ex- 


144     THE   THIRD    FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

plained  that,  while  he  had  received  nothing  personally 
from  the  Company,  300,000  francs  had  been  distributed, 
according  to  his  instructions,  among  the  newspapers 
supporting  the  Government's  policy.  This  was  plain 
and  straightforward  ;  but,  two  days  later,  a  Boulangist 
deputy  rose  and  declared  that  the  law  of  1888  author- 
izing the  Panama  Company  to  issue  the  seven  hundred 
millions'  worth  of  bonds  had  been  passed  by  means  of 
a  three  million  bribe,  paid  to  various  members  of  the 
majority  through  a  financier.  The  name  was  not 
mentioned  ;  but,  as  the  Baron  Jacques  de  Reinach  had 
died  just  before  under  suspicious  circumstances,  the 
allusion  was  sufficiently  clear. 

A  Parliamentary  commission  being  appointed  to 
investigate  this  charge,  Monsieur  Delahaye,  the  ac- 
cuser, now  entered  into  details  and  stated  that  between 
five  and  six  hundred  persons  in  all  had  been  bribed,  that 
eighty-three  millions  out  of  the  seven  hundred  had 
been  spent  in  floating  the  loan,  and  that  the  Baron, 
having  received  nearly  ten  millions,  had  disposed  only 
of  three  in  a  legitimate  manner. 

At  first,  the  Government,  anxious  to  minimize  the 
scandal,  did  very  little  to  facilitate  the  task  of  the 
Commissioners,  who,  to  tell  the  truth,  encroached  on 
the  domain  of  the  legal  courts.  But,  after  Monsieur 
Loubet  had  been  disavowed  by  the  Chamber  for 
declining  to  allow  the  exhumation  of  the  Baron  de 
Reinach's  body,  in  order  for  it  to  be  seen  whether  the 
death  was  due  to  suicide,  Monsieur  Ribot,  becoming 
Prime  Minister,  bowed  to  the  inevitable,  and  most  if 
not  all  the  truth  came  out.  It  would  have  been  better 
to  let  the  whole  be  known  sooner.  Through  the 
policy  of  reticence,  not  a  few  reputations  had  been 


THE   PRESIDENCY   OF   CARNOT       145 

smirched  that  were  perfectly  honourable ;  and,  in  the 
same  reprobation,  very  different  degrees  of  culpability 
had  been  confounded. 

Among  the  papers  of  a  bank  that  had  operated  for 
Baron  Jacques  de  Reinach,  the  Commission  of  Inquiry 
discovered  a  number  of  cheques,  representing  more 
than  three  millions,  that  had  served  to  pay  certain  poli- 
ticians for  their  votes  in  Parliament.  The  counterfoils 
of  these  were  procured,  and,  by  the  indications  they 
gave,  it  appeared  that  xMonsieur  Rouvier  and  two  other 
Ministers,  Jules  Roche  and  Antonin  Proust,  together 
with  two  deputies,  had  in  some  way  been  mixed  up  in 
the  transactions — in  what  capacity  was  not  certain. 
In  the  Senate,  there  were  five  members  implicated 
also — Monsieur  Deves,  once  interim  Prime  Minister, 
Monsieur  Thevenet,  a  former  Minister,  Monsieur 
Albert  Grevy,  brother  of  the  late  President,  Monsieur 
Leon  Renault,  an  old  Prefect  of  Police,  and  a  Mon- 
sieur Beral.  Then  there  were  the  contractor  and  four 
Directors  of  the  Company,  Monsieur  Eiffel,  and 
Messrs.  Fontane,  Cottu,  Ferdinand  and  Charles  de 
Lesseps.  A  Monsieur  Sans  -  Leroy,  once  in  the 
Chamber,  who  was  accused  of  changing  his  opinion 
about  the  bond-emission  against  a  solatium  of  two 
hundred  thousand  francs,  and  Monsieur  Baihaut,  once 
Minister  for  Public  Works,  who  owned  to  having  been 
bribed,  with  two  lesser  men,  Messrs.  Gobron  and 
Blondin,  completed  the  list. 

There  had  been  two  intermediaries  in  the  acts  of 
corruption ;  one,  the  famous  Cornelius  Herz,  who  for 
so  long  at  Bournemouth  baffled  both  physicians  and 
detectives ;  he  had  once  been  high  in  favour,  held  the 
cross  of  a  Grand  Officicr  in  the  Legion  of  Honour, 


146     THE   THIRD   FRENCH    REPUBLIC 

and  had  acquired  large  monetary  interests  in  news- 
papers.    The  other  was  a  humbler  agent,  Arton. 

Both  Chamber  and  Senate  gave  the  authorization 
necessary  for  the  prosecution  of  those  belonging  to 
their  body ;  and  the  trials  took  place.  That  of  the 
Directors  and  engineer  of  the  Company,  on  the  score 
of  misappropriation  of  the  shareholders'  money,  was 
a  foregone  conclusion.  The  two  de  Lesseps  were 
condemned  to  five  years'  imprisonment  and  a  three- 
thousand  franc  fine ;  Monsieur  Eiffel,  to  two  years' 
imprisonment  and  a  twenty-thousand  franc  fine ;  and 
Messrs  Fontane  and  Cottu,  to  two  years'  imprison- 
ment. Of  the  politicians  tried  for  bribery  nearly  all 
were  eliminated  either  by  the  Examining  Magistrate  or 
the  Court  exercising  the  functions  of  a  Grand  Jury. 
Only  Monsieur  Baihaut  and  Monsieur  Blondin  were 
condemned,  the  former  to  five  years'  imprisonment  and 
a  seven-hundred-and-fifty-thousand  franc  fine,  the  latter 
to  two  years.  Charles  de  Lesseps,  figuring  likewise  in 
this  second  trial,  had  a  year's  imprisonment  inflicted  on 
him. 

Besides  the  victims  who,  through  their  necessary 
official  connection  with  the  Panama  loan,  had  been 
dragged  into  a  Court  of  Justice  and  whose  careers  were 
more  or  less  blasted  by  the  calumny  of  unscrupulous 
adversaries,  there  were  some  whose  accidental  relations 
with  one  or  another  of  the  guilty  brought  them  into 
disrepute.  Among  these  was  Monsieur  Clemenceau. 
He  had  played,  in  the  earlier  stage  of  the  scandal, 
almost  the  same  role  as  Monsieur  Loubet,  endeavour- 
ing to  circumscribe  it ;  this  friendly  intervention  was 
exploited  against  him  to  such  good  purpose  that  he 
lost  his  seat  in  the  Chamber.     Both  he  and  Monsieur 


THE   PRESIDENCY   OF   CARNOT       147 

Rouvier  had  to  wait  years  before  again  attaining  a 
front  rank  in  politics. 

Misunderstood  at  home  and  abroad,  the  Panama 
affair  was  briefly  this.  It  was  originally  undertaken 
under  the  auspices  of  the  engineer  of  the  Suez  Canal  as 
a  perfectly  bond  / de  and  practicable  scheme;  and  the 
capital  asked  for  was  furnished  with  enthusiasm  by  the 
French  of  all  soits  and  conditions  that  had  a  little 
money  in  reserve.  An  initial  mistake  was  made  by  the 
Directors  in  underestimating  the  material  difficulties, 
and  a  second  in  not  exercising  a  severe  enough  control 
over  the  funds.  When  the  crisis  came,  the  Govern- 
ment's anxiety  to  save  the  situation  was  extreme.  The 
loan  was  absolutely  needed,  and  they  gave  it  their 
full  support  in  Parliament.  The  expenses  of  flotation 
were  very  considerable,  and  the  line  was  hard  to  draw 
between  services  that  ought  to  be  remunerated  and 
those  that  ought  not.  On  the  side  of  the  Directors, 
the  question  was  more  a  business  one,  on  the  deputies' 
side,  mainly  a  moral  one.  Corrupt  acts  were  incon- 
testably  committed,  but  both  the  gravity  and  extent  of 
these  were  enormously  exaggerated  by  rancorous  op- 
ponents of  the  Republic,  who,  posing  as  patriots,  did 
not  hesitate  to  demean  their  countrymen  in  the  eyes  of 
the  world. 

It  was  in  this  spirit  that  a  newspaper,  La  Cocarde, 
which  existed  by  blackmailing  and  publishing  false 
news,  announced  the  appearance  in  its  columns  of 
documents  said  to  have  been  stolen  from  the  British 
Embassy  and  to  prove  that  a  number  of  prominent 
politicians  were  in  the  pay  of  England.  The  matter 
was  at  once  taken  up  in  Parliament,  where  the  docu- 
ments were  asserted  by  Messrs.  Millevoye  and  Derou- 


148     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

lede,  two  of  Boulanger's  faction,  to  have  been  handed 
to  them  by  a  half-breed  of  the  island  of  Mauritius, 
named  Norton.  It  was  manifest,  at  first  sight,  that  the 
papers  were  gross  forgeries,  too  gross  to  deceive  any  one 
— unless  he  were  almost  an  imbecile.  The  two  depu- 
ties who  had  let  themselves  be  hoaxed  were  forced, 
amidst  the  derision  of  their  colleagues,  to  quit  the 
Chamber ;  and  Norton,  with  Ducret  of  the  Cocarde, 
was  tried  and  sent  to  prison. 

This  happened  in  June,  when  another  of  Monsieur 
Carnot's  new  men,  and  of  a  peasant  origin,  had  suc- 
ceeded Monsieur  Ribot,  who,  after  two  months  and  a 
half,  had  resigned  during  a  dispute  between  the  Senate 
and  the  Chamber  over  the  Budget.  In  France  it  is 
permissible  for  any  member  of  either  the  Upper  or 
Lower  House  to  propose  an  increase  of  expenditure,  a 
custom  which  has  contributed  not  a  little  to  the  almost 
annual  growth  of  the  National  Debt.  The  Senate, 
more  economically  inclined  than  the  Deputies,  pro- 
tested against  the  tendency  to  incur  liabilities  without 
the  means  to  meet  them,  and  refused  to  sanction  one  of 
the  items.  So  Monsieur  Ribot,  being  unable  to  recon- 
cile the  disputants,  gave  up.  During  his  Premiership, 
Jules  Ferry  had  died,  within  a  month  after  being  in- 
stalled in  the  Chair  of  the  Senate.  The  Panama 
trouble  had  made  a  change  in  the  chairmanship  of  the 
Deputies ;  Monsieur  Floquet  had  retired,  and  Casimir 
Perier  took  his  place. 

In  July,  Paris  was  in  a  commotion  owing  to  an 
epilogue  of  the  Carnival.  On  the  Shrove  Tuesday,  a  pro- 
cessionknown  as  that  of  the  Quatre-z-Aj-ts,had  exhibited 
some  female  figurants  very  scantily  dressed,  who  were 
subsequently    prosecuted    and    condemned    for    their 


THE   PRESIDENCY   OF   CARNOT       149 

breach  of  decency.  Straightway  the  bubbling  students 
of  the  Quartier  Latin  gathered  round  the  Luxembourg 
and  made  a  hostile  demonstration  against  Monsieur 
Berenger,  a  worthy  senator  celebrated  for  his  laudable 
zeal  in  the  protection  of  youthful  virtue,  but  occasionally 
laying  himself  open  to  ridicule  through  excess  of 
prudishness.  The  demonstration,  which  was  at  first 
quite  harmless,  assumed  a  more  menacing  aspect  through 
the  police  losing  their  head.  A  student,  named  Nugent, 
while  quietly  seated  outside  the  Cafe  d'Harcourt,  was 
fatally  injured  by  a  constable  flinging  a  matchstand 
at  him.  A  riot  followed,  in  which  the  Prefecture  of 
Police  was  stoned  and  all  the  windows  were  broken. 
Barricades  were  constructed  with  omnibuses,  tram-cars, 
and  benches,  along  the  Boulevard  du  Palais  and  neigh- 
bouring streets,  and  the  whole  quartier  was  sacked. 
The  rowdier  elements  in  the  later  phases  of  the  dis- 
turbance were  recruited  largely  from  the  unemployed, 
who  themselves  were  encouraged  by  the  Trade  Syn- 
dicates ;  and,  as  the  agitation  spread  to  the  Working- 
Men's  Bourse,  this  had  to  be  occupied  by  the  military 
and  temporarily  closed.  When  the  effervescence  fizzled 
out,  it  was  recognized  that  Monsieur  Loze,  the  Prefect 
of  Police,  had  not  shown  himself  equal  to  the  emergency. 
He  was  therefore  fired  and  Monsieur  Lepine  reigned 
in  his  stead. 

During  the  same  month,  France  was  at  war  with 
Siam.  Her  Indo-Chinese  Empire  being  contiguous, 
she  had  several  times  had  to  complain  of  incursions 
on  the  territories  of  Annam  and  Cambodia.  Siamese 
outposts  had  advanced  to  within  forty  kilometres  of 
Hue  ;  others  threatened  to  cut  off  Tonkin  from  Annam. 
The  French  Government  claimed  that  the  left  bank  of 


150     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

the  Mekong  should  be  accepted  as  the  eastern  boundary 
of  their  possessions  in  Indo-China ;  and,  to  enforce  the 
demand,  despatched  first  some  columns  of  Annamite 
sharp-shooters  to  drive  back  the  Siamese.  The  latter 
retaliated  by  reoccupying  Khone  Island,  which  they 
had  previously  evacuated,  and  capturing  Captain 
Thoreux  together  with  some  of  his  soldiers.  These 
incidents,  and  the  murder  of  a  French  inspector,  decided 
the  Cabinet  to  make  a  naval  show  of  force.  As  the 
Siamese  had  declared  that  they  would  oppose  the 
entrance  of  French  ships  into  the  river  Menam,  an 
order  was  sent  to  Admiral  Humann  to  remain  outside 
pending  negotiations ;  but,  for  some  reason  or  other, 
it  miscarried.  So  the  Inconstant  and  the  Comete  sailed 
over  the  bar  under  the  enemy's  fire  and  anchored  at 
Bangkok.  Enraged  by  this,  the  population  pillaged 
a  French  river-transport ;  and,  when,  in  consequence, 
an  ultimatum  was  presented,  the  Siamese  Minister 
slighted  it.  A  blockade  of  the  mouth  of  the  Menam 
was  now  executed.  It  effected  what  negotiations  had 
failed  to  do.  Siam  gave  the  guarantees  required  from 
her,  and  the  King  signed  a  treaty  with  the  French 
diplomatic  agent,  Monsieur  Le  Myre  de  Yilliers. 

1893  was  an  election  year.  Its  summer  months  were 
a  buzz  of  canvassing  and  speechifying,  during  which 
the  various  leaders  propounded  their  plans  for  the 
people's  good  and  their  own.  Monsieur  Casimir 
Perier  said  wisely  that  France  was  traversing  a  period 
of  transformation,  wherein  all  that  had  been  was  no 
longer,  all  that  would  be  did  not  yet  appear,  and  that 
what  men  of  small  perception  considered  as  a  disorder 
would  perhaps  be  a  new  order  of  society.  Monsieur 
Dupuy    defended    his    policy    of    union  ;     Monsieur 


PRESIDENT     CASIMIR     PERIER 

From  a  Photograph  by  PIERRE    PETIT 


THE   PRESIDENCY   OF   CARNOT       151 

Godefroy  Cavaignac  and  Monsieur  Spuller  supported 
the  Premier  ;  certain  rallies  like  Messrs.  d'Arenberg 
and  Pion  also.  Among  the  Socialists,  Jules  Guesde, 
speaking  in  the  name  of  the  National  Council  of  Work- 
men, put  forward  his  State  control  of  all  the  means 
of  production.  The  August  polls  were  gratifying 
enough  to  the  Republican  coalition,  whose  three 
hundred  and  eleven  members  had  a  decent  advantage 
over  the  hundred  and  twenty-two  Radicals,  fifty-eight 
Rights,  forty-nine  Socialists,  and  thirty-five  rallies 
together. 

Before  Parliament  met,  the  Russian  fleet  visited 
Toulon  in  October.  It  was  nominally  the  return  of 
the  compliment  paid  by  the  French  fleet  in  going  to 
Cronstadt.  In  reality,  it  meant  more.  When  Admiral 
Avelane,  his  staff  and  some  of  his  men  arrived  in  Paris, 
on  the  very  day,  as  it  happened,  that  Marshal  Mac- 
Mahon  died,  they  were  received  with  an  enthusiasm 
never  perhaps  previously  aroused  by  the  presence  of  re- 
presentatives of  any  foreign  Power.  From  that  moment, 
the  Franco-Russian  Alliance  was  made,  at  any  rate  as 
far  as  the  French  were  concerned.  They  gave  them- 
selves heart  and  soul  to  their  Slav  friends  ;  and  a  seal 
was  placed  on  the  tacit  agreement  by  the  Russians'  at- 
tending the  Marshal's  funeral,  a  courtesy  shown  by  the 
special  instructions  of  the  Czar. 

Although  of  pleasure  and  promise  to  the  nation,  the 
Russian  week  did  nothing  for  Monsieur  Dupuy. 
Either  because  he  had  not  properly  proved  the  new 
men  of  his  party,  or  because  he  was  goaded  into  bad 
humour  by  the  onslaughts  of  Messrs.  Jaures  and 
Millerand,  the  authorized  spokesmen  of  the  Socialists, 
he  threw  up  his  post  after  the  first  skirmish. 


152     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

The  honour  of  leading  now  fell  to  Jean-Casimir 
Perier,  who  had  never  yet  been  in  a  Cabinet.  This 
lack  of  ministerial  experience  may  to  some  extent 
account  for  what  happened  in  the  next  twelve  months, 
during  which  he  was  to  fail  so  signally  in  the  use  of  a 
great  opportunity.  He  belonged  to  a  family  of  states- 
men. Both  his  father  and  grandfather  had  been 
Ministers,  the  former  under  Thiers,  the  latter  under 
Louis-Philippe.  Born  in  1847,  he  had  only  just  finished 
his  studies  in  law  and  literature  when  the  war  was 
declared.  Enlisting  as  a  volunteer,  he  soon  rose  to 
captain's  rank  and  distinguished  himself  particularly  at 
Bagneux,  where  he  drove  out  a  body  of  Prussians  and 
rescued  from  the  enemy  Major  Dampierre,  who  had 
been  mortally  wounded.  For  this  exploit  he  was  made 
a  Knight  of  the  Legion  of  Honour.  Entering  Parlia- 
ment in  1876,  he  filled  with  credit  one  or  two  secretary- 
ships of  State  before  being  chosen  to  the  chairmanship 
of  the  Chamber  of  Deputies.  A  man  of  high  principles 
and  upright  conduct,  he  combined,  like  his  immediate 
forbears,  liberalism  of  ideas  with  authoritativeness  in 
their  application.  While  possessed  of  generous  emo- 
tions, his  sharp,  clear  notions  of  what  was  and  was  not 
realizable  in  practical  politics  caused  those  that  knew 
him  least  to  think  him  cold.  In  any  case,  however, 
there  was  no  mistaking  his  meaning ;  and  both  at 
home  and  abroad  the  plainness  and  vigour  of  his  utter- 
ances were  remarked. 

The  young  Parliament  had  hardly  got  to  work  when 
its  labours  were  disagreeably  interrupted  one  December 
afternoon  by  an  anarchist  outrage.  The  election  of 
one  of  the  members  was  being  discussed  and  the  per- 
son in  question  had  just  gone  back  to  his  seat  when 


THE   PRESIDENCY   OF   CARNOT       153 

a  bomb  was  flung  from  the  Strangers'  Gallery  and  ex- 
ploded amidst  a  cloud  of  dust,  scattering  nails  and  bits 
of  iron  in  every  direction.  Several  deputies  were 
struck,  one  of  them,  the  Abbe  Lemire,  being  seriously 
cut  in  the  neck  ;  and,  among  the  spectators,  quite  sixty 
received  wounds,  for  the  most  part  happily  of  a  super- 
ficial character.  The  thrower  of  the  bomb,  a  man 
named  Vaillant,  was  among  the  injured.  He  was 
arrested  on  leaving  the  hospital  and  condemned  to  be 
guillotined. 

This  fresh  example  of  preaching  by  dynamite  was 
bound  to  provoke  reprisals.  If  most  of  those  for  whom 
the  bomb  was  intended  exhibited  phlegm,  if  Monsieur 
Dupuy,  the  Chairman,  simply  said :  '  The  sitting 
continues,  gentlemen,'  and  the  Prime  Minister  sat  still 
with  folded  arms  until  it  could  be  seen  what  had 
occurred,  none  of  them  had  any  wish  to  go  through  a 
similar  experience.  In  consequence,  a  law  aimed  at 
incentives  to  physical  violence,  when  published  in  the 
press,  was  speedily  passed,  and  justice  was  armed  with 
stronger  weapons  against  the  individuals  who  regarded 
society  as  good  only  to  be  destroyed.  Apparently  the 
Companions  were  determined  to  profit  by  their  oppor- 
tunities before  these  edicts  were  ready,  for  explosion 
after  explosion  took  place  in  the  early  months  of  1894. 
Emile  Henry's  bomb  at  the  Hotel  Terminus  was  fol- 
lowed by  others  at  the  Hotel  Saint-Jacques,  in  the 
Faubourg  Saint-Martin  and  the  Madeleine  Church.  A 
man  named  Pawels  was  the  presumed  author  of  the 
last  three.  In  the  explosion  at  the  Madeleine,  he  him- 
self was  killed.  The  month  of  April  brought  still 
another  at  the  Restaurant  Foyot  in  the  old  Rue 
Tournon,  where  Laurent  Tailhade,  a  well-known  poet 


154     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

and  at  the  time  a  sympathizer  with  ideal  anarchism  as 
proclaimed  by  Elisee  Reclus,  almost  lost  his  life,  an 
innocent  victim  in  lieu  of  the  criminal,  who  was  not  dis- 
covered. And  the  worst  anarchist  deed  of  the  year 
was  yet  to  come. 

Notwithstanding  the  black  side  of  things  in  a  year 
which  from  such  events  has  been  nicknamed  Pan  nee 
maudite,  the  general  prosperity  of  the  country  was 
demonstrated  by  the  ease  with  which  the  conversion  of 
the  4^  per  cent  Rentes  into  Sh  per  cent  was  managed 
by  the  Finance  Minister,  Burdeau.  In  colonial  enter- 
prise the  activity  had  become  so  great  that  a  special 
portfolio  was  assigned  to  it.  The  penetration  of  Central 
Africa  was  being  attempted,  in  the  outset  attended 
with  some  mishaps  resulting  from  over-zealous  officers' 
exceeding  their  orders.  One  of  these,  Colonel  Bonnier, 
fell  into  an  ambuscade  near  Timbuctoo,  and  was  slain 
by  the  Tuaregs. 

During  the  remaining  years  of  the  century,  France's 
colonial  expansion  often  placed  her  in  delicate  relations 
with  other  Powers  having  interests  in  Africa,  and  more 
especially  with  England.  The  two  men  who  in  turn 
guided  the  country's  foreign  policy  in  this  period  were 
Monsieur  Hanotaux  and  Monsieur  Delcasse.  Both  of 
them  were  included  in  the  rearranged  Cabinet  of  May, 
when  Casimir  Perier  retired.  Not  even  the  latter 's 
modest  reforms,  his  firmness  with  the  Church,  his 
intelligent  acceptance  of  improvements  both  in  army 
and  navy  were  able  to  prevent  the  eternal  ehasse- 
croise.  He  and  Monsieur  Dupuy  politely  changed 
places  once  more ;  and,  in  the  second  Dupuy  Ministry, 
Hanotaux  became  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs  and 
Delcasse,  Minister  for  the  Colonies. 


THE   PRESIDENCY   OF   CARNOT       155 

Monsieur  Hanotaux  was  soon  called  upon  to  deal  with 
the  situation  resulting  from  the  French  and  English 
conventions  passed  with  the  Belgian  Congo  Association 
and  the  incursions  made  by  some  of  the  Associa- 
tion's agents  while  hunting  for  ivory  across  the  Ubanghi 
and  the  fourth  parallel,  which  had  been  fixed  as  the 
boundary  between  French  and  Belgian  territory  in 
1887.  A  Government  grant  of  nearly  two  million  francs 
was  made  for  the  placing  of  gunboats  on  the  river 
Ubanghi  with  a  view  to  protecting  the  frontier.  As  to 
the  French  and  English  claims  in  the  Sudan  and  on 
the  Nile,  much  obscurity  prevailed  owing  to  the  de  facto 
rights  acquired  by  England  in  Egypt  after  the  cessation 
of  the  two  nations'  concerted  action.  These  rights  had 
never  been  acknowledged  by  France,  and  Monsieur 
Hanotaux'  conduct  from  first  to  last  was  based  on  the 
assumption  they  did  not  exist  de  jure. 

For  the  moment,  however,  relations  between  France 
and  England  continued  to  be  friendly ;  and  the  Cham- 
bers, having  time  to  occupy  themselves  with  home 
matters,  put  on  the  Statute  Book  a  law  providing  for 
miners'  old  age  pensions,  the  funds  being  supplied  partly 
by  the  miners  themselves,  partly  by  the  colliery  owners. 

This  was  in  June,  when  Monsieur  Carnot  was  just 
starting  on  the  journey  that  had  such  a  tragic  ending. 
If  he  had  lived  till  December,  he  would  have  com- 
pleted his  seven  years'  presidency.  Although  his 
popularity,  of  a  quiet  but  genuine  kind,  had  been  main- 
tained without  a  single  hitch  through  his  whole  term  of 
office,  he  had  decided  not  to  ask  for  a  renewal  of  his 
mandate.  The  visit,  therefore,  he  was  paying  to  Lyons, 
and  to  the  Exhibition  being  held  there,  was  one  of  his 
official  farewells.     Sunday  was  the  great  day,  with  an 


156    THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

evening  banquet  in  the  Palace  of  the  Bourse,  offered  by 
the  Municipality.  At  nine  o'clock,  the  President,  after 
a  speech  in  which  he  exhorted  his  hearers  to  co-operate 
in  the  work  of  progress  and  justice,  left  for  the  theatre, 
where  he  was  to  make  a  short  appearance.  The  distance 
was  not  great ;  but  the  streets  were  thronged  ;  so,  with 
the  Mayor  and  two  Generals  of  his  suite,  he  got  into  a 
landau,  which  set  off  at  a  slow  pace  amid  the  acclama- 
tions of  the  multitude,  whose  enthusiasm  was  so 
spontaneous  that  the  guards  allowed  the  causeway  to 
be  invaded. 

Suddenly  a  man  approached  the  carriage  and  sprang 
on  to  the  step  with  a  paper  in  his  hand,  seemingly  a 
petition.  Underneath  it  was  concealed  a  poniard  ;  and 
this,  before  his  intention  could  be  guessed,  he  plunged 
into  the  President's  side,  inflicting  a  wound  that  pene- 
trated the  liver. 

The  assassin  was  immediately  arrested,  while 
Monsieur  Carnot  was  conveyed  with  all  speed  to  the 
Prefecture,  where  he  expired  a  few  hours  later.  His 
murderer,  an  Italian  named  Caserio  Giovanni  Santo, 
who  in  August  paid  with  his  head  for  his  crime,  was  a 
young  journeyman  baker,  twenty-five  years  of  age  ;  and 
apparently  committed  the  deed  in  order  to  avenge 
Ravachol,  Vaillant  and  Henry. 

On  the  1st  of  July,  the  dead  President  was  borne 
with  the  honours  of  a  national  funeral  to  the  Pantheon, 
where,  not  so  long  before,  the  ashes  of  his  ancestor, 
Lazare  Carnot,  had  been  translated.  In  his  modest 
way,  he  had  given  the  best  of  himself  to  his  fellow- 
citizens,  and  had  conferred  on  the  functions  he  held  a 
distinction  which  forced  the  respect  of  all.  And  France 
was  not  ungrateful. 


VII 

THE   PRESIDENCIES  OF   CASIMIR   PERIER   AND 
FELIX   FAURE 

In  selecting  Casimir  Perier  to  follow  Carnot,  the 
Versailles  Congress  thought  they  were  likeliest  to  have 
a  strong,  as  they  knew  he  was  a  fearless  man.  Genuine 
uneasiness  prevailed  in  their  minds  in  consequence  of 
the  long  series  of  attacks  upon  law  and  order  ;  and 
there  was  a  feeling  that,  in  the  decisions  to  be  taken, 
the  initiative  of  the  Elysee  ought  to  count  for  more 
than  had  been  the  case  under  its  two  previous  occu- 
pants. 

The  new  President's  qualities  have  already  been 
spoken  of.  They  were  accompanied  by  a  certain  im- 
patience and  a  nervous  sensitiveness  which  a  good  deal 
neutralized  them.  It  was  perhaps  the  consciousness  of 
these  defects  which  caused  him  to  plead  his  nolo  epis- 
copari,  and  to  yield  only  after  repeated  solicitations. 

When  his  predecessor  had  offered  him  the  Premier- 
ship, he  was  similarly  reluctant.  '  I  am  a  fighter,'  he 
answered,  '  and  my  place  is  rather  on  the  benches  of 
the  Chamber.'  This  fighting  note  was  perceptible  in 
his  first  Presidential  message.  '  Penetrated  with  the 
sentiment  of  my  responsibility,'  he  said,  '  I  shall  esteem 
it  my  duty  to  see  that  the  rights  conferred  on  me  by 
the  Constitution  are  neither  ignored  nor  allowed  to 
lapse.' 

*S7 


158     THE   THIRD    FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

Such  language,  the  form  of  which  was  less  happy 
than  the  substance,  did  not  please  the  Extreme  Lefts, 
who  detected  in  it  a  dictatorial  tone  ;  and  they  were  all 
the  bitterer  in  blaming  the  further  legislation  against 
anarchists  which  Caserio's  crime  had  the  effect  of 
hurrying  through  Parliament.  To  Monsieur  Brisson 
and  his  friends  these  additional  penalties  seemed  sus- 
ceptible of  being  used  against  harmless  citizens.  Their 
fears  were  chimerical,  since,  of  the  thirty  Companions, 
including  Sebastien  Faure  and  Jean  Grave,  who  were 
forthwith  arrested  and  put  on  their  trial,  all  escaped 
from  the  net  except  one  or  two  avowed  offenders 
against  the  law. 

In  the  Socialist  Press,  a  dead  set  was  made  against  the 
President  from  the  commencement.  His  wealth,  his 
name,  his  dislike  of  their  doctrines  aroused  the  ire  of 
the  apostles  of  the  new  gospel.  One  of  them,  Mon- 
sieur Gerault-Richard,  wrote  a  violent  article  in  the 
Chambcwd  entitled  A  bas  Caslmir,  which  brought  him 
before  the  Seine  Assizes  in  November.  Jaures,  the 
greatest  orator  of  the  Socialist  party,  defended  him  by 
himself  abusing  the  Perier  family  and  the  capitalist 
class  with  equal  violence.  Gerault-Richard  was  fined 
three  thousand  francs  and  sentenced  besides  to  a  year's 
imprisonment.  This  mild  martyrdom  sufficed  to  get 
him  elected  in  January  as  one  of  the  deputies  for 
Paris,  and  his  durance  vile  was  curtailed. 

The  autumn  of  1894  had  a  heavy  death  list  of 
celebrities.  The  Comte  de  Paris — Philippe  VII,  the 
Royalists  called  him — died  in  September  at  Stowe 
House  in  England,  leaving  in  his  will  a  request  to  be 
buried  at  Dreux.  Napoleon's  Minister,  Victor  Duruy, 
famous  as  an  historian  also,  passed  away  two  months 


PRESIDENCIES  OF  PERIER  &  FAURE    159 

later  ;  and,  in  December,  Ferdinand  de  Lesseps  and 
Burdeau,  the  Chairman  of  the  Lower  Chamber.  The 
last  was  only  forty-three.  His  life  had  been  a  most 
meritorious  one.  After  working  in  a  factory  as  a  child 
to  support  his  widowed  mother,  he  was  helped  by  a 
bachelor  uncle  in  his  efforts  to  study,  and,  succeeding 
in  distinguishing  himself  at  the  University,  he  obtained 
a  professorship  of  philosophy  at  a  Lycee,  previously, 
however,  righting  for  his  country  in  1870  and  gaining 
by  his  bravery  the  ribbon  of  the  Legion  of  Honour. 
Entering  politics,  while  still  young,  he  rapidly  reached 
eminence,  and  his  abilities  promised  even  greater 
things,  had  he  lived. 

The  end  of  the  celebrated  engineer  of  the  Suez 
Canal,  on  whose  old  age  the  Panama  disaster  weighed 
heavily,  recalled  a  story  of  the  former  enterprise, 
dating  back  to  1858.  Four  hundred  millions' worth  of 
shares  had  been  issued,  half  being  offered  to  France 
and  half  to  foreign  countries.  The  French  shares  were 
all  taken  up,  but  only  a  portion  of  the  second  half. 
Fearing  the  undertaking  might  fall  through,  Monsieur 
de  Lesseps  asserted,  at  an  interview  with  the  Egyptian 
authorities,  that  the  whole  sum  was  guaranteed.  His 
French  colleagues  hesitating  to  support  him  in  this 
diplomatic  fib,  he  went  to  Napoleon,  confessed  what  he 
had  done  and  begged  for  an  intervention  that  should 
keep  the  work  in  French  hands.  The  Emperor  at 
once  wrote  a  letter  to  Mohammed  Said,  the  Viceroy  of 
Egypt,  with  the  result  that  the  eighty-five  millions 
lacking  were  subscribed. 

From  political  reasons,  the  death  of  Alexander  III 
of  Russia,  which  likewise  took  place  in  December, 
gave   rise   to   considerable   anxiety.      Every   one   was 


160     THE   THIRD  FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

asking  what  effect  it  would  have  upon  the  rapproche- 
ment that  the  late  Czar  had  fostered  between  his  own 
country  and  that  of  France.  Fortunately,  Nicholas  II 
soon  made  it  clear  that  he  intended  to  pursue  the 
same  policy  towards  the  Republic  that  prevailed  in  his 
father's  time,  unhindered  by  his  marriage  with  a  Ger- 
man princess. 

Useful  as  were,  in  the  same  autumn,  the  foundation 
of  a  High  School  for  feminine  industries  and  the 
establishment  of  the  Clichy  siphon  system  for  dealing 
with  the  capital's  sewage,  they  attracted  but  little 
notice,  whilst  the  arrest  and  court  martial  of  Captain 
Dreyfus,  on  an  impeachment  of  having  delivered  im- 
portant military  secrets  to  a  foreign  Power,  provoked 
a  widespread  and  somewhat  exaggerated  commotion. 
The  officer's  social  position  and  fortune  introduced  an 
element  of  mystery  into  the  affair.  He  was  rich  ;  and, 
since  he  was  neither  a  gambler  nor  a  rake,  money  could 
hardly  be  assigned  as  a  motive.  But  he  was  a  Jew ; 
and  that  for  the  anti-Semitic  Press  was  enough.  By 
the  general  public  the  verdict  of  guilty  pronounced 
upon  him  was  received  with  some  surprise,  yet  without 
being  seriously  questioned.  It  was  supposed  that  the 
seven  officers  who  condemned  him  must  have  had  in 
their  possession  ample  demonstration  of  his  treason. 

A  few  indeed  thought  that  solitary  detention  for 
life  was  too  great  a  punishment,  especially  as,  through 
the  closed  doors  of  the  court  martial,  rumours  crept 
that  the  culprit  had  excused  his  conduct  on  the  ground 
of  his  desire  to  obtain  more  important  documents  from 
the  enemy.  Perhaps  in  no  affair  of  controversial 
importance  did  legend  ever  grow  up  so  quickly.  Of 
the  degradation  ceremony   diverse  reports  were  pub- 


PRESIDENCIES  OF  PERIER  &  FAURE    161 

lished  forthwith,  the  anti-Semitic  journals  relating 
that  Dreyfus  had  owned  his  crime,  others  that  he  had 
strongly  asserted  his  innocence.  But  by  none  was  any 
sympathy  shown.  Even  his  stoicism,  which  all  re- 
marked, was  interpreted  against  him. 

Almost  overlapping  this  painful  incident,  came  the 
sudden  collapse  of  the  Dupuy  Ministry ;  and,  on  the 
next  day,  the  15th  of  January,  the  resignation  of  the 
President  of  the  Republic.  Neither  the  one  thing  nor 
the  other  had  any  connection  with  the  Dreyfus  affair,  or, 
in  fact,  with  each  other.  The  Government's  discom- 
fiture was  due  to  a  dispute  in  the  Chamber  over  the 
Southern  Railway's  privilege,  which  the  Company 
claimed  to  have  prolonged  to  1956,  whereas  the  Prime 
Minister  affirmed  that  1914  was  the  latest  date.  The 
quarrel  was  a  trivial  one  ;  nor  would  Monsieur  Dupuy 's 
giving  up  office  have  affected  the  President,  if  he  had 
not  been  chafing  during  the  preceding  six  months  both 
at  the  grossness  of  the  abuse  poured  upon  him  and  at 
the  growing  strength  of  the  Extreme  Lefts  and  the 
Socialist  contingent  voting  with  them.  He  saw  at 
this  juncture  that  he  must  either  form  a  Radical 
Cabinet  or  dissolve  Parliament  and  appeal  to  the  coun- 
try to  give  him  a  more  moderate  Chamber  of  Deputies. 
He  was  not  willing  to  adopt  the  first  course  ;  and 
those  who  had  placed  him  at  the  Elysee  did  not  seem 
to  favour  his  having  recourse  to  the  second. 

His  abandonment  of  the  Presidency  was  adversely 
judged  both  in  France  and  abroad.  Yet,  in  truth,  if 
blame  were  merited,  it  was  rather  on  account  of  his 
having  originally  accepted  a  post  for  which  he  was  little 
fitted.  From  Monsieur  Casimir  Perier's  standpoint,  the 
case  was  probably  this  :  he  consented  to  assume  the  chief 


162    THE   THIRD   FRENCH    REPUBLIC 

magistracy  under  circumstances  that  would  have  made 
a  refusal  cowardly ;  and  he  laid  it  down  again  as  soon 
as  he  discovered  he  could  not  conscientiously  hold  it 
longer. 

Three  names  were  now  submitted  to  Congress,  those 
of  Brisson,  Waldeck  Rousseau  and  Felix  Faure.  It  was 
the  last  candidate  who  was  carried,  through  the  pre- 
ponderance of  the  Moderates  in  the  Senate.  Francois- 
Felix  Faure,  to  give  him  his  full  name,  was  the  son  of 
a  small  furniture-maker  in  Paris.  In  his  boyhood  he 
learnt  the  tanner's  trade,  whence  his  after  nickname  of 
the  '  petit  tanneur.'  Establishing  himself  in  Havre  as  a 
fellmonger,  he  throve  there,  and  became  Chairman  of 
the  local  Chamber  of  Commerce,  having,  like  the  rest 
of  his  contemporaries,  shared  in  the  war.  Elected 
deputy  for  Havre  in  1881,  he  continued  thenceforward 
to  sit  in  Parliament  as  a  Moderate,  interesting  himself 
more  especially  in  economic  questions,  railways  and 
the  navy.  In  the  Jules  Ferry  Cabinet  of  1882-3,  and 
the  Tirard  Cabinet  of  1888,  he  held  undersecretaryships 
of  State,  was  Vice-President  of  the  Deputies  in  1893, 
and  Dupuy's  Minister  for  the  Marine  in  1894.  This 
portfolio  he  exchanged  only  for  the  higher  dignity  at 
present  conferred  on  him.  It  is  said  that  his  entrance 
into  politics  was  facilitated  by  Coquelin,  the  actor, 
who  in  his  private  box  at  the  Comedie  Francaise, 
introduced  him  to  Gambetta. 

An  old  Crimean  veteran,  Marshal  Canrobert,  finished 
his  long  life  of  nearly  ninety  years  in  the  month  of 
January-  His  romantic  marriage  to  Flora  Mac  Donald 
took  place  in  the  flowery  days  of  the  Empire.  He  met 
her  at  a  ball,  where  she  asked  him  to  dance.  But  the 
Marshal   knew   more   of  the   doings  of  Mars  than  of 


PRESIDENT     FELIX     FAURE 

From  a  Photograph  by   PIERRE    PETIT 


PRESIDENCIES  OF  PERIER  &  FAURE    163 

Terpsichore,  and  was  compelled  to  delegate  his  waltzing 
to  a  young  officer,  with  the  remark  :  '  Remember  that  a 
Marshal  of  France  envies  you  to-night.' 

Among  the  first  preoccupations  of  the  new  Prime 
Minister,  Monsieur  Ribot,  was  a  law  on  espionage 
resulting  from  the  Dreyfus  trial ;  and,  before  the  end  of 
January,  he  signed  a  treaty  with  the  United  Kingdom, 
delimiting  the  British  Colony  of  Sierra  Leone  and 
the  northern  part  of  Liberia  from  French  Guinea  and 
the  Upper  Niger.  He  had  also  the  Madagascar  expedi- 
tion on  his  hands,  credits  for  it  having  been  voted  in 
the  previous  December.  Queen  Ranavalo  being  still 
unwilling  to  submit  to  French  ascendancy  in  her  island, 
and  some  of  her  people  using  reprisals  against  sub- 
jects of  the  Republic  that  were  established  there,  the 
Government  had  decided  to  send  a  force  of  fifteen 
thousand  men  to  support  the  troops  already  stationed 
on  the  coast,  who  had  seized  Tamatave. 

The  command  was  given  to  General  Duchesne,  on 
account  of  his  experience  in  the  Tonkin  campaign ; 
and  under  him  served  Generals  Voyron  and  Metzinger. 
The  plan  was  to  march  on  Tananarivo,  the  capital  of 
the  Hovas,  and  there  to  dictate  terms  to  the  Queen 
and  her  Prime  Minister,  Rainilairivony.  A  beginning 
was  made  in  May,  when  the  fort  of  Ambohimarina 
was  captured  and  the  retrenched  camp  of  Midiane  too, 
these  coups  de  main  being  followed  up  by  the  taking 
of  the  citadels  of  Marovoay  and  Traboujy  and  Amboto. 
Progress  then  was  slower,  owing  to  the  nature  of  the 
country  through  which  the  army  had  to  march  ;  the 
abundance  of  marshes  engendered  malaria  and  dysen- 
tery among  the  soldiers,  causing  heavy  mortality. 
However,    on   the    30th    of  June,    two    Hova   camps 


164     THE   THIRD    FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

were  surprised  on  the  river  Beritzoka,  and  nearly  five 
hundred  tents  with  a  cannon  and  the  Queen's  flag  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  French.  From  there  the  army 
forged  ahead  towards  Imerina,  meanwhile  gaining  a 
victory  on  Mount  Beritza.  The  final  combats  were 
waged  in  the  defiles  of  Tsinainondry,  and  beyond  them 
at  Sakkafal  and  Ilafy ;  Tananarivo  was  stormed  on 
September  30th,  and  a  treaty  of  peace  signed  in 
October. 

During  the  spring  and  summer  of  1895,  foreign 
affairs  had  full  discussion  in  Parliament.  The  young 
Czar  presented  Monsieur  Felix  Faure  with  the  Imperial 
Collar  of  St.  Andrew ;  and,  the  entente  with  Russia 
strengthening  the  country's  position,  Monsieur  Hano- 
taux,  who  was  at  the  Foreign  Office,  was  urged  by  the 
colonial  party  to  send  a  mission  towards  the  Nile  with 
a  view  to  joining  France's  possessions  in  Central  Africa 
to  her  territory  on  the  north-east  coast,  thus  weakening 
England's  hold  on  Egypt.  In  the  British  House  of 
Commons,  Sir  Edward  Grey  replied  with  a  declaration 
that  showed  his  Government  were  determined,  if  pos- 
sible, to  prevent  any  portion  of  the  Egyptian  Sudan 
from  inclusion  in  the  French  sphere  of  action  in 
Africa. 

Monsieur  Hanotaux  was  at  this  moment  a  rising 
statesman  of  the  younger  generation,  and  had  the  good 
luck  to  belong  for  some  years  to  nearly  every  ministry 
that  was  formed.  Much  of  his  reputation  was  acquired 
through  the  Russian  alliance,  although  it  was  rather 
the  work  of  the  nation  than  of  one  man.  Intelligent, 
discreet  in  speech,  with  considerable  literary  talent,  he 
enjoyed,  while  in  office,  the  popularity  of  being  slightly 
feared.      Events   subsequently   deprived   him   of  this 


PRESIDENCIES  OF  PERIER  &  FAURE    165 

enigmatical  renown,  consoling  him  with  his  election  to 
the  Academy  and  his  leisure  for  writing  history. 

Either  from  a  desire  to  safeguard  her  Indo-Chinese 
Empire  or  in  consequence  of  her  friendship  with 
Russia,  France  joined  the  Czar  and  the  German 
Emperor  in  May,  in  order  to  protest  against  the 
conditions  imposed  by  Japan  upon  China  at  the  con- 
clusion of  the  war  just  terminated  between  these  two 
Powers.  Japan  was  induced  to  forgo  her  claim  on 
Port  Arthur,  which,  as  it  appeared  later,  Russia 
coveted  for  herself.  Praised  at  the  time,  this  diplo- 
macy was  less  fraught  with  advantage  to  the  Republic 
than  Monsieur  Hanotaux'  settlement  of  the  irritating 
fiscal  conflict  with  Switzerland.  For  a  couple  of  years, 
the  two  nations  had  been  engaged  in  a  war  of  tariffs 
which  had  considerably  injured  their  commerce,  French 
exporters  suffering  greatly.  By  the  compromise  effected, 
the  old  relations  were  resumed  on  an  improved  basis. 

The  presence  of  French  warships  at  the  inauguration 
of  the  Kiel  Canal  in  June  was  a  hopeful  sign  for  the 
future  ;  but  it  did  not  prevent  the  ancient  soreness  from 
being  felt  on  the  occasion  of  the  Germans  having  their 
annual  celebration  of  the  victories  of  1870.  In  this 
year,  it  happened  that  the  President  assisted  during  the 
same  month  at  the  French  military  manoeuvres  in 
Lorraine.  An  apropos  story  was  related  in  the  papers 
of  a  peasant  living  at  Detwiller  near  Saverne,  who 
had  a  fine  white  cock,  with  a  magnificent  red  crest, 
and  who  patriotically  painted  the  bird's  tail  blue.  This 
seditious  tricolour  displayed  by  the  Gallic  volatile  was 
reported  to  the  Prussian  authorities  and  they  ordered 
the  peasant  to  destroy  his  fowl.  As  he  refused,  they 
themselves  proceeded  to  cut  off  the  cock's  head. 


166     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

In  home  affairs,  the  Ministers  had  to  look  round  for 
means  to  meet  an  ever-increasing  expenditure.  A  more 
effectual  taxation  of  the  Religious  Orders  was  one  of 
their  remedies,  and  some  slight  modification  of  the 
Customs  duties  was  attempted,  while  fervent  Lefts  like 
Jaures  and  Camille  Pelletan  were  preaching  an  Income 
Tax  crusade.  More  modest  and  more  practical,  the 
Abbe  Lemire,  a  broad-minded  Catholic  priest-deputy, 
introduced  a  little  Bill  to  simplify  marriage  formalities, 
in  which  red-tapism  had  long  exercised  its  maximum 
restrictive  power.  Even  now  the  documents  required 
for  a  wedding  in  France  are  enough  to  discourage  the 
most  loving  couple  in  the  world. 

In  the  spring,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Comte  de 
Chambrun,  a  Musee  Social  had  been  opened  in  Paris, 
denoting  that  social  problems  were  at  present  awaking 
the  attention  of  serious  minds.  Unhappily,  strikes  and 
lock-outs  were  as  frequent  as  ever.  At  a  Carmaux 
glass-factory,  employers  and  workmen  fought  with 
these  weapons  for  the  greater  part  of  the  year.  It  was 
during  this  long  struggle  that  Madame  Dimbourg 
made  a  gift  of  £4000  for  the  purpose  of  founding  a  co- 
operative works  under  the  workmen's  sole  control. 
The  enterprise  was  begun  at  Albi,  and  furnished  one 
more  example  of  the  isolated  efforts  being  made  in 
various  parts  of  France  to  establish  a  brighter  world  of 
labour. 

In  mid-autumn,  Monsieur  Ribot,  with  the  Southern 
Railway  question  still  simmering,  grew  disheartened 
and  passed  his  hand  to  Monsieur  Leon  Bourgeois,  the 
Radicals'  nominee,  who  managed  to  constitute  a  homo- 
geneous Cabinet,  eliminating  even  Hanotaux  and  taking 
as  Foreign  Minister  Berthelot,  the  eminent  chemist. 


PRESIDENCIES  OF  PERIER  &  FAURE    167 

Pasteur,  the  latter's  confrere,  was  just  dead.  He  had 
been  ailing  for  some  little  while,  and  had  been  obliged 
to  excuse  his  absence  from  his  usual  haunts  by  a  pun 
half  French,  half  English :  J'etudie  maintenant,  he 
said  to  a  sympathizing  friend,  la  theorie  des  at(Ji)omes. 
A  national  funeral  attended  by  the  President  of  the 
Republic,  the  Grand  Duke  Constantine  of  Russia  and 
Prince  Nicholas  of  Greece  honoured  the  ashes  of  the 
great  physicist. 

By  dint  of  sheer  hard  work,  Monsieur  Felix  Faure 
won  golden  opinions  in  the  first  eighteen  months  of  his 
Presidency.  Later  he  exposed  himself  to  criticism  by 
an  etiquette  that  many  Republicans  deemed  overween- 
ing. Less  sensitive  than  Casimir  Perier,  he  bore  philo- 
sophically the  prying  of  gutter-journalists  into  his  past 
life.  One  of  these  told  a  story  of  Madame  Faure's 
father,  which  the  President  frankly  acknowledged  and 
corrected.  *  His  wife  was  the  daughter  of  a  notary  who 
had  been  condemned  for  a  misdemeanour.  Brought  up 
by  her  uncle,  a  senator  named  Guinot,  she  had  married 
the  Havre  fellmonger  only  after  the  story  had  been 
told  him,  so  that  neither  husband  nor  wife  had  any 
reason  to  be  ashamed  of  their  conduct. 

Newspapers  that  raked  up  such  details  in  the  hope 
of  scandal  were  of  the  class  that  had  no  sale  without 
them.  It  was  about  the  same  time  that  La  France 
announced,  on  the  arrest  of  Arton,  the  late  Baron  de 
Reinach's  agent  in  the  Panama  emission,  that  it  pos- 
sessed the  list  of  a  hundred  and  four  deputies,  all  guilty 
of  corruption  of  the  worst  kind.  Called  upon  to  justify 
the  assertion,  its  editor  was  forced  to  admit  that  the 
list  existed  merely  in  his  own  imagination. 

As  soon  as  Monsieur  Bourgeois  and  his  colleagues  were 


168     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

in  harness,  they  subordinated  everything  else  to  their 
grand  scheme  of  substituting  for  the  old  system  of  tax- 
ation, imperfect  enough  yet  practical,  the  Income  Tax 
preconized  by  unpractical  theorists  in  divers  countries 
as  the  ideal  contribution  to  State  needs.  If  Felix 
Faure  had  talked  to  Gladstone  on  the  subject  during 
their  interview  at  Cannes  in  the  spring,  the  grand  old 
man  might  have  told  him  that  it  was  the  most  cordially 
detested  tax  in  Great  Britain.  Monsieur  Jaures  was 
delighted  with  the  prospect ;  and  poured  out  floods  of 
oratory  in  praise  of  Monsieur  Doumer  the  Finance 
Minister's  pet  project,  while  Messieurs  Meline  and 
Leon  Say,  the  latter  speaking  a  few  weeks  before  his 
death,  were  equally  eloquent  against  it.  Not  wishing 
to  discuss  this  panacea  proposed  for  the  betterment  of 
the  national  revenue,  the  Senate  politely  gave  Monsieur 
Bourgeois  warning  to  quit  towards  the  end  of  April. 
Berthelot  had  already  gone  back  to  his  laboratory,  after 
the  vote  of  the  Egyptian  Debt  Commission  allowing 
England  to  borrow  five  millions  for  her  expedition 
against  the  Mahdi.  As  in  Parliaments  the  most  useful 
measures  generally  get  through  without  much  noise,  so, 
in  this  short  one,  a  Bill  was  passed  enabling  a  married 
woman  to  dispose  of  her  personal  earnings.  It  was  a 
triumph  for  Women's  Rights  before  Feminism  was 
greatly  talked  of  in  France. 

Monsieur  Meline,  who  now  came  in  for  a  second 
innings,  had  some  soundly  sensible  convictions,  not- 
withstanding his  tendency  to  carry  Protectionism  be- 
yond its  legitimate  employment.  He  believed  that  a 
country's  prosperity  depends  primarily  on  all  the 
resources  of  the  land  being  utilized,  and  consistently 
endeavoured  to  keep  the  land  in  cultivation  and  the 


PRESIDENCIES  OF  PERIER  &  FAURE    169 

people  on  the  land.  He  realized  that  this  policy  had 
secured  French  prosperity  in  the  past  and  that  no 
theory  of  economics  was  worth  a  fig  which  militated 
against  it. 

Journalists  related  that  his  election  to  the  Chairman- 
ship of  the  Lower  Chamber  in  1888,  whereby  he  at- 
tained prominence,  was  really  due  to  a  grudge  nourished 
by  one  of  the  deputies  against  Clemenceau,  who,  as 
his  competitor  on  the  occasion,  received  an  equal 
number  of  votes  but  was  set  aside,  being  the  younger. 
The  one  vote  which  would  have  given  Clemenceau  the 
majority  was  that  of  a  bicycling  member  that  had  the 
habit  of  putting  away  in  his  tail  pocket  little  rolls  from 
the  Chamber  refreshment  buffet,  which  rolls  Clemen- 
ceau used  playfully  to  abstract  whenever  possible.  To 
pay  out  his  tormentor,  the  bicycling  deputy  voted  for 
Meline. 

Back  at  the  Foreign  Office,  Monsieur  Hanotaux  had 
to  face  a  serious  uprising  of  the  Hovas,  requiring  ener- 
getic action,  if  French  supremacy  were  to  be  maintained 
in  the  island.  Transforming  into  annexation  pure  and 
simple  the  ill-defined  regime  that  had  so  far  prevailed, 
he  entrusted  General  Gallieni  with  the  task  of  com- 
pleting the  submission  of  the  population,  recalled  the 
civil  Governor,  Monsieur  Laroche,  and  made  the 
General  supreme  ruler. 

The  Left  Centres  being  at  present  to  the  fore,  the 
Due  d'Orleans  thought  the  moment  opportune  for 
writing  a  loving  epistle  to  his  faithful  subject,  the  Due 
d'Audiffret-Pasquier,  reminding  him  and  all  it  might 
concern  that  there  was  an  heir  to  the  throne.  But  this 
manifesto  and  the  Baron  Legoux'  plebiscite  banquet 
fell  flat ;  nor  was  there  much  more  interest  manifested 


170    THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

when,  two  or  three  months  later,  the  Duke  married 
Marie-Dorothee,  an  Austrian  Arch-Duchess  of  Royal 
blood.  The  fact  was  the  nation  had  discovered  that 
their  Republicanism  was  no  bar  to  dealings  with  other 
Governments,  though  Royalist.  Just  then  it  was  the 
Autocrat  of  all  the  Russias  who  manifested  his  will- 
ingness to  drink  to  the  health  of  Marianne.  There 
was  even  some  humour  in  the  situation. 

After  paying  official  visits  to  the  Courts  of  Denmark 
and  England,  the  Czar  arrived  with  his  bride  in  Paris 
on  the  10th  of  October.  Unusual  solemnity  and  mag- 
nificence characterized  the  fetes  held  in  their  honour. 
Government  and  population  vied  with  each  other  in 
demonstrations  of  cordiality  and  joy  at  the  presence  of 
the  two  Sovereigns.  The  toasts  exchanged  seemed  to 
be  the  long-awaited  recognition  of  an  offensive  and 
defensive  alliance  between  the  two  countries.  To  the 
bridge  that  was  to  span  the  Seine  opposite  the  Invalides 
the  name  of  Alexandre  III  was  given  by  the  young 
Nicholas,  who  laid  its  first  stone,  and  simultaneously 
set  in  full  swing  the  preparations  for  the  1900  Ex- 
hibition. To  fix  in  every  mind  the  souvenir  of  the 
day,  a  pyrotechnic  display  was  devised  for  the  same 
evening,  which  made  of  the  Trocadero,  the  Champ  de 
Mars  and  the  Eiffel  Tower  one  vast  firmament  of 
coruscating  flame.  Altogether,  the  Russian  week,  as 
it  was  styled,  was  a  fine  burst  of  national  sentiment 
that  must  have  impressed  the  two  Imperial  visitors  and 
their  suite.  As  for  the  material  advantages  accruing, 
they  would  appear  to  have  been  more  on  the  side  of 
Russia  than  of  France,  since,  from  this  date  forward, 
Russian  finances  were  largely  replenished  from  French 
money. 


PRESIDENCIES  OF  PERIER  &  FAURE    171 

In  November,  a  Parliamentary  interpellation  anent  a 
pamphlet  written  by  a  man  of  letters  named  Bernard 
Lazare  first  awoke  people  to  the  consciousness  that 
belief  in  Dreyfus'  innocence  existed  outside  his  own 
family.  Some  time  before,  Madame  Dreyfus  had 
petitioned  for  a  fresh  trial  on  the  ground  that  there 
had  been  a  miscarriage  of  justice  ;  but  her  request  had 
been  ignored.  The  interpellation  drew  from  the 
Premier  the  statement  that  the  case,  having  been 
legally  judged,  could  not  be  reopened  ;  and,  his  answer 
being  considered  as  final,  the  public  for  the  most  part 
dismissed  the  matter  from  their  thoughts  and  turned 
to  smile  at  the  permission  granted  to  girls  above  the 
age  of  fifteen  to  attend  classes  at  the  Beaux  Arts. 
'  Another  feminist  victory,'  they  said  ;  and  few  persons, 
if  any,  imagined  that,  when  another  autumn  had  come 
round,  the  Dreyfus  affair  would  have  aroused  a  seething 
of  passionate  controversy  dividing  France  into  two 
hostile  camps. 

The  year  1897  began  with  nothing  more  exciting 
than  the  amusement  afforded  by  a  recently  elected 
deputy,  Doctor  Grenier,  who  had  become  a  convert 
to  Mohammedanism,  and  whose  costume,  with  his  genu- 
flexions, prayers  and  ablutions  inside  the  precincts  of 
Parliament  and  in  the  streets  of  Paris,  tickled  for  a 
while  the  risibility  of  his  fellow -citizens.  A  slight 
New  Year's  flutter,  too,  was  caused  in  literary  circles  by 
the  birth  of  an  Academy  rivalling  with  the  Academie 
Francaise.  Founded  by  the  late  Edmond  de  Goncourt, 
it  was  limited  to  ten  members,  and  confined  its  patron- 
age to  prose  writers,  unkindly  excluding  poets. 

Spring  discussions  in  the  Chambers  were  mainly 
on  sugar,  which  the  bounty  system  favouring  artificial 


172     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

exportation  caused  Frenchmen  to  pay  dearer  for  than  the 
foreigner  to  whom  this  article  was  sent  in  large 
quantities.  Amidst  these  debates — varied  by  complaints 
of  continued  clerical,  not  to  say  Papal,  interference  in 
French  politics,  which,  if  it  was  no  longer  directed 
against  the  Republic  as  an  institution,  sought  ever  to 
combat  its  elimination  of  dogmatic  religion  from  the 
schools — occurred  the  disastrous  fire  at  the.Jean-Goujon 
Street  Charity  Bazaar,  in  which  more  than  a  hundred 
persons,  including  some  of  the  highest  aristocracy, 
lost  their  lives. 

It  was  in  the  early  days  of  the  cinematograph,  before 
the  risks  attending  the  use  of  this  form  of  magic- 
lantern  entertainment  were  fully  known.  In  a  flimsy 
construction  of  wood  and  vellum,  over  a  thousand 
visitors  were  gathered  on  a  bright  May  afternoon.  A 
sudden  explosion — and,  in  a  few  moments,  the  whole 
area  was  filled  with  a  mass  of  smoke  and  blazing 
material.  The  terrible  nature  of  the  catastrophe  and 
the  number  of  noble  families  plunged  into  mourning 
evoked  world-wide  sympathy.  Strange  to  relate,  the 
Duchesse  d'Alencon,  the  Empress  of  Austria's  sister, 
who  was  one  of  the  victims,  had  ordered  a  picture  of 
Joan  of  Arc  at  the  stake  to  be  painted  for  the  sale  by 
Benjamin  Constant.  The  picture  was  executed  and 
delivered  at  the  Duchess's  house,  but  had  not  been 
conveyed  to  the  bazaar  when  the  fire  broke  out.  At 
the  funeral  service  in  Notre  Dame,  which  was  honoured 
by  representatives  of  all  the  Powers,  a  sermon  was 
preached  by  Pere  Ollivier,  who  declared  that  the 
calamity  was  a  judgment  of  God  on  the  country  for 
its  sins.  Evidently,  the  good  father's  mentality  was 
no    whit    superior    to    that    of   the    primitive    savage 


PRESIDENCIES  OF  PER1ER  &  FAURE    173 

who    supposed    the     Deity    to    be    angry    when    it 
thundered. 

The  shock  of  the  Duchess's  death  hastened  that  of 
the  Due  d'Aumale,  to  whom  she  was  nearly  related. 
He  expired  on  the  7th  of  May,  three  days  after  the 
fire.  In  him  the  Royalists  lost  the  one  member  of 
the  Bourbon  family  who,  if  a  Restoration  had  been 
feasible,  would  have  known  how  to  make  kingship 
compatible  with  modern  conceptions  of  national 
sovereignty  and  individual  liberty. 

At  the  Jubilee  of  Queen  Victoria,  the  French 
Government's  delegate,  General  Davout,  the  Due 
d'Auerstadt,  was  welcomed  with  great  heartiness.  In 
spite  of  the  coolness  in  diplomatic  relations  over  the 
Egyptian  question,  there  was  a  sincere  desire  in  Great 
Britain  to  be  friends  with  the  Republic ;  and  Monsieur 
Faure's  interview  with  Queen  Victoria  in  the  spring, 
as  she  passed  through  France  on  her  way  to  the 
Riviera,  was  interpreted  as  of  good  augury. 

The  President's  Court  duties  were  rather  heavy  this 
year.  Having  luckily  escaped  from  an  attempt  made 
on  his  life,  he  paid  in  August,  with  Monsieur  Hanotaux, 
a  visit  to  Russia,  where  the  Czar  strove  to  render  the 
reception  worthy  of  the  one  he  himself  had  had  in  the 
French  capital  twelve  months  before,  lodging  his  guest 
in  the  Peterhof  Palace,  a  sort  of  Russian  Marly,  built 
by  Peter  the  Great  and  furnished  mostly  with  cabinet 
work  of  that  monarch's  manufacture.  In  September, 
Chulalongkorn,  the  King  of  Siam,  came  to  Paris,  in 
the  course  of  his  travels  through  Europe,  and  was 
regaled  with  a  review  of  troops  more  agreeable  to 
behold  than  those  that  had  not  so  long  since 
blockaded    Bangkok. 


174    THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

Meanwhile,  duels  of  sword  and  tongue  were  supply- 
ing journalists  with  copy.  Prince  Henri  d'Orleans, 
having  disparaged  the  prowess  of  Italian  officers  in  the 
war  with  Abyssinia,  was  challenged  by  the  Comte  de 
Turin,  nephew  to  the  King  of  Italy,  and  sent  off  the 
field  with  a  wound  of  some  gravity.  In  the  Chamber 
the  problem  of  the  State  versus  the  Individual  had 
cropped  up  once  more  over  the  proposal  to  renew  the 
privilege  of  the  Bank  of  France,  and,  as  usual,  words 
ran  high.  The  Socialists  wanted  to  have  State  banks 
everywhere ;  and,  more  especially,  agricultural  banks 
in  the  various  regions  of  France.  Monsieur  Paul 
Deschanel,  the  Vice-Chairman  of  the  Deputies,  who 
was  decidedly  building  up  a  reputation  on  his  opposition 
to  Jaures  and  Pelletan,  had  an  easy  task  in  pointing 
out  the  inconvenience  of  curing  poverty  by  enslaving 
the  individual.  What  he  found  more  difficult  was 
to  justify  the  price  of  dear  bread,  which  Monsieur 
Meline's  excessive  zeal  for  the  farmer  had  allowed  to 
rise  to  nearly  a  franc  the  four-pound  loaf. 

But  soon  the  Premier  had  a  more  irritating  subject 
than  this  to  face.  The  Vice-Chairman  of  the  Senate, 
Monsieur  Scheurer-Kestner,  together  with  Monsieur 
Mathieu  Dreyfus,  a  brother  of  the  prisoner  in  the  He 
du  Diable,  had  gone  to  General  Billot,  the  Minister  for 
War,  and  solemnly  affirmed  that  the  real  culprit  in  the 
1894  treason  was  Major  Elsin-Esterhazy,  a  naturalized 
foreigner  of  loose  morals,  whose  handwriting  seemed 
identical  with  that  of  the  bordereau  on  which  Alfred 
Dreyfus  had  been  condemned.  Esterhazy,  being  inter- 
viewed, retorted  that  this  accusation  had  been  trumped 
up  against  him  through  the  agency  of  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Picquart,  formerly  of  the   War  Office  Staff, 


I 


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f. 

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PRESIDENCIES  OF  PER1ER  &  FAURE    175 

who,  he  said,  had  been  bribed  by  the  prisoner's  family. 
For  a  week  or  so  the  principal  dailies  contented  them- 
selves with  ordinary  comment  on  this  resuscitation  of 
the  Affaire;  but  suddenly  the  Figaro,  which  subse- 
quently espoused  the  Dreyfus  family's  cause,  intervened 
with  a  series  of  private  letters  in  Esterhazy's  hand- 
writing, also  like  the  bordereau,  and  filled  with  the 
foulest  abuse  of  the  French,  the  presumed  author,  of 
course,  denying  that  the  incriminated  passages  were 
from  his  pen. 

The  Government  now  commissioned  General  de 
Pellieux  to  hold  a  preliminary  inquiry ;  yet  inconsist- 
ently declared  that,  whatever  the  result  might  be,  it 
could  not  affect  the  court  martial  of  1894.  Dreyfus, 
they  repeated,  had  been  justly  convicted.  Any  one 
that  denied  this  calumniated  the  whole  army.  It  was 
strange  to  hear  Republican  Ministers,  at  the  end  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  claim,  in  behalf  of  a  jury  of  soldiers, 
an  infallibility  they  would  have  been  the  first  to  refuse 
to  one  composed  of  civilians. 

The  year  closed  in  a  gloom  intensified  by  rumours — 
happily  unfounded — of  the  massacre  of  the  Marchand 
mission  ;  and,  in  the  new  one,  it  was  the  Affaire,  as 
people  began  to  call  the  Dreyfus  case,  which  monopo- 
lized the  stage  political  and  social,  with  just  some 
desultory  attention  paid  to  the  war  being  waged  be- 
tween the  Americans  and  Spaniards  in  Cuba  and  the 
Philippines.  In  January,  Esterhazy  was  sent  before 
a  court  martial  presided  over  by  General  de  Luxer,  and 
was  acquitted.  During  the  sittings,  Major  Ravary, 
who  acted  as  Government  Commissary,  allowed  it  to 
be  seen  that  the  military  judges  were  beforehand 
decided  on  their  verdict.     On  the  other  hand,  he  took 


176    THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

up  with  venom  the  charges  made  by  the  defendant 
against  Lieutenant- Colonel  Picquart  and  plainly  hinted 
that  the  War  Office  considered  the  latter's  conduct  in 
the  most  unfavourable  light.  At  the  end  of  the  trial, 
Esterhazy  received  quite  an  ovation,  his  fellow-officers, 
Generals  included,  shaking  hands  with  him  effusively 
and  assuring  him  that  he  left  the  Court  without  a  stain 
on  his  character.  How  mistaken  they  were  the  next 
few  months  were  tragically  to  show ! 

Indeed,  the  verdict  was  attacked  immediately  and 
most  unexpectedly  by  the  popular  novelist, .  Emile 
Zola.  In  the  pages  of  the  Aurore,  a  daily  paper  of 
recent  creation,  he  published  an  open  letter  to  the 
President  of  the  Republic,  in  which  he  said :  '  I  accuse 
Major  du  Paty  de  Clam  and  General  Mercier  of  having 
been,  one  of  them  the  diabolic  instrument,  the  other 
the  accomplice  of  one  of  the  greatest  iniquities  of  this 
century.  I  accuse  General  Billot,  Generals  Gonse  and 
de  Boisdeffre,  of  having  hushed  up  the  proofs  of 
Alfred  Dreyfus's  innocence,  out  of  esprit  de  corps  and 
to  save  the  compromised  Staff.  I  accuse  General 
de  Pellieux  and  Major  Ravary  of  having  carried  out 
an  iniquitous  investigation.  I  accuse  the  experts  of 
lying.  Last  of  all,  I  accuse  the  first  court  martial 
of  having  violated  equity  in  condemning  an  accused 
man  from  a  document  that  was  kept  secret,  and  the 
second  one  of  covering  this  illegality  by  order  and 
committing  thus  the  judicial  crime  of  knowingly 
acquitting  a  guilty  person.' 

Violent  scenes  in  Parliament  followed  the  publication 
of  this  letter,  Jaures  charging  the  Government  with 
handing  over  the  Republic  to  the  Generals,  and  Mon- 
sieur Cavaignac  asserting  that  the  Minister  for  War 


PRESIDENCIES  OF  PERIER  &  FAURE    177 

was  in  a  position  to  produce  a  confession  of  guilt  made 
by  Dreyfus  to  Captain  Lebrun- Renault  of  the  Garde- 
Republicaine,  who  had  the  care  of  him  at  the  time  of 
the  degradation  ceremony.  Monsieur  Meline,  while 
agreeing  that  a  document  containing  Lebrun-Renault's 
account  of  the  so-called  confession  existed  in  the 
dossier,  declined  to  produce  it.  To  do  so,  he  argued, 
would  be  a  virtual  reopening  of  the  Affaire.  Zola, 
he  said,  would  be  prosecuted  for  his  attack  on  the 
character  of  certain  persons  ;  but  the  prosecution  would 
be  so  circumscribed  as  to  safeguard  the  chose  jugee. 

The  common  opinion  was  that  this  would  be  to 
attempt  the  impossible.  Monsieur  Gerault-Richard 
went  further  and  roundly  stated  that  prosecution  under 
such  conditions  would  be  cowardly.  As  already  the 
Chamber  was  split  into  two  sections  of  Dreyfusists 
and  Anti-Dreyfusists,  and  the  latter — a  majority — 
believed  or  pretended  to  believe  that  the  former 
belonged  to  a  vast  syndicate  of  traitors  bribed  with 
millions  supplied  by  the  Jews,  an  Anti-Dreyfusist 
named  Bernis  asked  Gerault-Richard  if  he  was  not 
the  advocate  of  the  syndicate.  In  an  instant  the 
questioner  received  a  box  on  the  ears,  and  the  Chamber 
was  in  an  uproar.  It  was  the  same  in  the  cafes,  clubs 
and  boulevards.  Pugilism  and  duels  were  the  order 
of  the  day.  The  most  hideous  caricatures  of  Zola 
were  hawked  about,  and  the  wildest  tales  circulated 
upon  Lieutenant-Colonel  Picquart,  who  had  just  been 
arrested  and  sent  to  the  fortress  of  Mont  Valerien. 
Fanned  by  the  anti-Semitic  journals,  the  agitation 
spread  rapidly  throughout  the  whole  of  France, 
extending  even  to  Algeria,  where  hostile  manifesta- 
tions   against   the   Jews    began    to    be    frequent.     In 


178     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

vain  Herr  Von  Billow,  the  German  Secretary  of 
State  for  Foreign  Affairs,  declared  that  his  Govern- 
ment had  never  had  any  relations  with  Dreyfus ;  in 
vain  was  the  same  thing  said  in  the  Italian  Parlia- 
ment. The  condemned  man's  guilt  became  a  dogma 
outside  of  which  there  was  no  salvation,  no  possibility 
of  being  a  good  Frenchman.  And  yet  French  citizens 
of  the  highest  intelligence  and  probity  were  being 
converted  to  faith  in  his  innocence.  When  in  Feb- 
ruary Zola's  trial  took  place,  this  devoted  band  had  to 
be  counted  with. 

The  hearing  occupied  the  larger  part  of  the  month  ; 
and  Zola's  Counsel  confronted  the  handwriting  experts 
whose  evidence  had  been  fatal  to  Dreyfus  in  1894  with 
some  eminent  graphologists  who  flatly  contradicted 
them.  These  scientists  demonstrated  that  the  writing 
of  the  bordereau  was  dextrogyrous  and  centripetal, 
whereas  that  of  Dreyfus  was  senestrogyrous  and  cen- 
trifugal. They  also  pointed  out  Germanisms  in  the 
bordereau,  incomprehensible  if  the  writer  were  a 
Frenchman,  but  natural  in  Esterhazy  as  a  foreigner. 
Their  testimony,  however,  was  mocked  at  by  Generals 
de  Pellieux  and  de  Boisdeffre,  who  trotted  out  the 
spectre  of  secret  proofs  existing  at  the  War  Office, 
which  they  pretended  could  not  be  produced  in  public 
without  danger  to  the  State.  Neglected  also  was 
Picquart's  clear  account  of  how,  after  first  accrediting 
Dreyfus's  guilt,  he  had  been  brought  to  change  his 
opinion  under  the  accumulated  indications  of  Ester- 
hazy  's  having  written  the  bordereau.  Witnesses  on 
the  opposite  side,  carefully  primed  by  some  one  behind 
the  scenes,  contrived  to  throw  suspicion  on  all  he  said. 
Colonel  Henry,  formerly  his  subordinate  at  the  War 


PRESIDENCIES  OF  PERIER  &  FAURE    179 

Office,  presumed  to  call  him  a  liar  in  the  open  court. 
This  insult  he  subsequently  avenged  by  wounding  his 
traducer  in  a  sword-duel.  A  heavier  chastisement 
awaited  Henry  in  the  near  future. 

The  trial  ended,  as  every  one  foresaw  it  would, 
unfavourably  to  Zola.  His  efforts  to  make  those  that 
knew  most  speak  failed  through  the  Judge  not  allow- 
ing his  Counsel's  questions  to  be  put ;  and  he  was 
sentenced  to  a  year's  imprisonment  and  a  fine  of  three 
thousand  francs.  Picquart,  for  daring  to  do  his  duty, 
was  retired  from  the  army.  But  Zola  was  not  so 
easily  discouraged.  He  appealed  against  the  judgment, 
managed  to  get  it  quashed  on  technical  grounds,  and 
prepared  to  deliver  a  second  assault  on  the  conspiracy 
of  silence,  content  meanwhile  that  his  initiative  was 
encouraging  others  to  take  up  the  cause  of  the  victim 
who  was  suffering  in  the  far-away,  inhospitable  Devil's 
Island. 

As  its  last  legislative  act,  Parliament  passed  a  Bill 
enabling  any  person  accidentally  injured  during  his 
work  to  get  compensation  from  his  employer.  In  May 
there  were  General  Elections,  which  did  not  materially 
change  the  relative  strength  of  the  various  parties  in 
the  Chamber.  The  Socialists  were  slightly  weakened, 
Jaures  and  Jules  Guesde  losing  their  seats,  but  more 
through  their  Dreyfusist  sympathies  than  their  doc- 
trine, whilst  the  moderate  Republicans  gained  propor- 
tionately. This  tilting  of  the  balance,  however,  sufficed 
to  sit  Deschanel  in  the  Deputies'  Chair,  by  a  casting 
vote,  instead  of  the  Radical  Brisson. 

After  a  premiership  of  a  little  over  two  years,  Mon- 
sieur Meline  resigned  in  June ;  and  a  stop-gap  Cabinet 
was  formed  with  difficulty  under  Brisson,  destined  to 


180    THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

mark  time  only  while  the  Affair  was  developing.  In  the 
new  Parliament  a  movement,  whose  rallying  cry  was 
France  for  the  French,  began  to  take  shape,  soon  to 
be  known  under  the  name  of  Nationalism.  Its  founder 
was  Edouard  Drumont,  now  deputy  for  Algiers ;  he 
was  a  clever  journalist,  who  had  sprung  into  notoriety, 
some  time  before  the  Dreyfus  Affair,  by  a  book  written 
against  the  Jews  ;  and  his  paper,  the  Libre  Parole,  was 
an  everlasting  diatribe  on  his  peculiar  aversion. 

Under  the  stop-gap  Government,  interpellations  on 
the  Affair  were  not  lacking.  Hoping  to  discourage 
them,  Monsieur  Cavaignac,  the  Minister  for  War,  read 
to  the  Deputies  portions  of  a  presumably  intercepted 
letter  from  one  foreign  Attache  to  another  in  which 
Dreyfus  was  alluded  to  as  the  traitor.  Thereupon 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Picquart  wrote  to  the  Minister, 
offering  to  convince  him  that  the  document  quoted 
must  be  a  forgery.  Monsieur  Cavaignac's  only  reply 
was  to  have  the  Colonel  again  arrested,  reviving 
against  him  the  accusations  on  which  had  been  based 
his  retirement  from  the  army,  accusations  of  having 
made  improper  use  of  confidential  papers,  and  of 
having  so  tampered  with  one  of  the  documents  bearing 
upon  the  Dreyfus  case  as  to  render  himself  liable  to  a 
criminal  prosecution. 

Arrests  were  beginning  to  be  frequent.  About  the 
same  time,  Esterhazy  and  a  mistress  of  his,  Made- 
moiselle Pays,  were  locked  up  on  the  complaint  of  a 
relative  of  the  Major's,  who  accused  him  of  fraud. 
And  on  the  30th  of  August,  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Henry,  to  every  one's  astonishment,  was  sent  by  order 
of  the  War  Office  to  prison,  on  his  own  confession 
of    having    fabricated    the    communication    read    by 


PRESIDENCIES  OF  PERIER  &  FAURE    181 

Cavaignac  in  the  Chamber.  He  pretended  he  had 
done  it  to  stop  the  agitation  in  favour  of  Dreyfus  ;  but 
his  suicide  on  the  next  day  suggested  rather  that  he 
was  the  traitor  himself,  or  at  any  rate  an  accomplice 
in  the  treason. 

A  whole  series  of  resignations  was  the  consequence 
of  Henry's  death.  De  Boisdeffre,  the  head  of  the 
War  Office,  threw  up  his  post,  and  then  Cavaignac, 
both  overwhelmed  with  confusion.  The  War  Minister's 
portfolio  was  taken  on  by  Generals  Zurlinden  and 
Chanoine  successively,  neither  remaining  hardly  more 
than  a  month  in  office,  and  each  trying  to  stem  the 
tide  of  opinion,  each  foolishly  persisting  in  upholding 
the  fetish  of  military  infallibility.  And  events  still 
went  against  them.  Du  Paty  de  Clam,  whom  Zola 
had  denounced,  was  suddenly  dismissed  from  the 
army,  under  strong  suspicion  of  having  acted  similarly 
to  Henry.  The  same  disciplinary  measure  had  already 
been  meted  out  to  Esterhazy ;  his  former  friends 
among  the  Generals  at  present  discovering  they  had 
made  a  woeful  error  in  defending  him.  He,  having 
been  conditionally  liberated  from  confinement,  profited 
by  his  freedom  to  escape  to  England.  Not  an  unintelli- 
gent man,  he  saw  that,  as  far  as  he  was  concerned,  the 
game  was  up. 

By  this,  the  first  step  towards  a  revision  of  Dreyfus' 
sentence  had  been  taken  in  the  appointment  of  an 
advisory  committee.  It  was  a  victory  for  Zola,  so  that 
the  novelist  was  able  to  regard  with  equanimity  his 
second  condemnation  at  Versailles,  which  he  defeated 
by  crossing  the  Channel.  The  Brisson  Cabinet  had  not 
survived  General  Chanoine's  secession  ;  but,  under  that 
of   Monsieur   Charles   Dupuy,    which    succeeded,  the 


182     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

advisory  committee  decided  to  place  the  question  sub- 
mitted to  them  before  the  Criminal  Court  of  Appeal. 
The  latter  tribunal  was  not  long  in  informing  Madame 
Dreyfus  that  her  petition  should  be  examined  and  gave 
orders  for  the  news  to  be  conveyed  to  her  husband. 

Most  pertinently,  the  Court  of  Appeal  explained  that 
the  sole  testimony  against  Dreyfus  appeared  to  them  to 
be  presumptions  founded  on  statements  by  persons  who 
had  been  detected  in  lying  or  who  else,  like  the  experts, 
had  varied  in  their  evidence.  True,  Cavaignac,  at  this 
juncture,  affirmed  there  was  a  secret  dossier  at  the  War 
Office,  which  contained  absolute  proofs  of  Dreyfus's 
guilt,  and  which  could  not  be  produced  without  the 
country's  ruin.  But  Cavaignac  was  contradicted  by 
the  late  Premier,  who  rose  in  the  Chamber  and  said 
that,  among  the  sixty-odd  papers  composing  the 
original  Dreyfus  dossier,  the  most  important  was  the 
one  Henry  had  forged,  and  that  any  or  all  of  them 
could  be  published  without  the  least  inconvenience. 
The  so-called  secret  dossier,  therefore,  was  handed  over 
to  the  Court  of  Appeal. 

In  revenge,  the  anti-Revisionists  turned  their  atten- 
tion to  Picquart,  who  was  languishing  in  the  Cherche- 
Midi  prison.  A  court  martial  was  forthwith  ordered, 
and  the  evident  purpose  of  the  Colonel's  enemies  was 
by  hook  or  by  crook  to  procure  a  sentence  against  him. 
Picquart  is  a  central  figure  right  through  the  Dreyfus 
affair.  In  the  early  nineties,  he  was  a  young  and 
exceptionally  brilliant  officer,  with  Major's  rank,  hold- 
ing a  position  as  Professor  in  the  Ecole  Militaire  and 
subsequently  put  in  charge  of  the  Intelligence  Depart- 
ment at  the  War  Office.  His  accidental  discovery, 
while  there,  of  Esterhazy's  unworthiness   led   him  to 


PRESIDENCIES  OF  PERIER  &  FAURE    183 

express  his  doubts  of  the  justice  of  the  1894  trial  to 
General  Billot,  who,  at  first,  encouraged  him  to  pursue 
his  investigations.  Then  an  influence  from  behind  the 
General — probably  Mercier's — stopped  him,  removed 
him  from  the  War  Office,  sent  him  on  a  dangerous 
mission  to  the  Algerian  frontier,  and  kept  him  there 
until  the  pro- Dreyfus  movement  rendered  his  presence 
in  Paris  inevitable.  From  the  moment  of  his  evidence 
at  the  Zola  trial,  the  same  occult  influence  pursued 
him  with  relentless  hatred.  Fortunately,  he  was  a 
level-headed  man,  as  well  as  a  straightforward  one. 
Instead  of  tamely  submitting  now  to  be  tried  by  mili- 
tary judges  that  could  hardly  have  been  unbiased,  he 
appealed  to  the  Court  which  was  to  decide  on  the 
Dreyfus  revision,  and  his  appeal  was  heard.  The  case 
concerning  him  was  adjourned. 

Thus  passed  this  strange  year.  Other  events  had 
occurred  not  without  their  importance  in  French 
history,  but  they  were  overshadowed  by  the  Affair. 
The  Spanish-American  War  had  been  finished  and  the 
treaty  of  peace  arranged  in  Paris  by  the  good  offices  of 
the  French  Government.  The  Czar's  famous  circular 
on  disarmament  had  been  issued,  and  might  have  been 
taken  a  little  more  seriously,  if  Russia  had  not  just 
seized  on  Port  Arthur,  after  depriving  Japan  of  it  in 
1896.  The  Marchand  mission  had  attained  its  aim  of 
establishing  a  French  post  at  Fashoda  on  the  Nile ;  but 
had  withdrawn  after  an  interchange  of  correspondence 
on  the  subject  between  Paris  and  London.  In  the 
Sudan,  the  negro  king,  Samory,  had  been  captured, 
after  giving  the  French  a  good  deal  of  trouble.  And, 
last  but  not  least,  women  had  obtained  Parliament's 
sanction  to  their  being  admitted   as  barristers  when 


184     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

provided  with  the  proper  legal  qualifications.  Soon 
Mademoiselle  Chauvin  was  to  be  allowed,  as  the  first 
woman-lawyer,  to  plead. 

Of  the  minor  incidents  and  episodes  belonging  to  the 
same  period,  one  was  the  publication  by  Urbain  Gohier 
of  a  book  called  UArmee  contre  la  Nation,  which 
contained  some  home-truths  expressed  in  language  un- 
necessarily violent.  The  author  was  prosecuted,  but 
was  acquitted  as  not  having  exceeded  the  limits  of 
lawful  criticism.  There  was,  in  fact,  some  excuse  for 
him  when,  under  cover  of  a  subscription  that  the  Libre 
Parole  had  organized  on  behalf  of  Henry's  widow, 
the  forger's  memory  was  glorified  by  persons  of  im- 
portance, including  a  certain  number  of  officers  in 
the  army. 

The  foundation  of  the  Patrie  Franpaise,  which  was 
also  due  to  the  Affaire,  might  have  claimed  more 
consideration  if  Jules  Lemaitre,  Coppee  and  its  other 
chief  spirits  had  kept  to  their  original  idea  of  using  the 
Society,  patronized  at  first  by  eminent  men  of  all  shades 
of  opinion,  for  fostering  solidarity  among  their  fellow- 
countrymen.  Alas !  they  quickly  identified  them- 
selves with  Drumont  and  his  Anti-Semitic  League, 
Deroulede  and  his  harum-scarum  brother-patriots, 
Mercier,  Cavaignac  and  their  oligarchy,  who  would 
have  Dreyfus  remain  on  his  Devil's  Island,  though  he 
were  proved  a  thousand  times  innocent.  They  made 
Nationalism  a  synonym  for  detestation  of  the  foreigner, 
and  even  of  any  Frenchman  who  had  not  their 
shibboleth.  Thereupon,  sensible  men  deserted  them, 
and.  like  the  Patriots'  League,  the  Patrie  Fran^aise 
sank  to  the  level  of  a  vulgar  and  factious  opposition 
to  the  Republic,  recruited  among  individuals  such  as 


PRESIDENCIES  OF  PERIER  &  FAURE    185 

Quesnay  de  Beaurepaire,  the  Criminal  Court  of  Appeal 
Judge,  who  abandoned  his  colleagues  when  they  were 
still  debating  the  question  of  Madame  Dreyfus's 
petition,  and  sought  notoriety  by  throwing  mud  at 
them.  During  the  later  phases  of  the  Dreyfus  case, 
this  Quesnay  de  Beaurepaire  was  a  jackanapes  dancing 
about  everywhere  and  offering  discoveries  of  treasons 
which  were  no  sooner  examined  than  they  turned  out 
to  be  hoaxes  of  the  most  childish  description.  Even 
before  the  end  came,  he  thoroughly  discredited  himself 
with  his  new  friends,  and  was  by  them  relegated  to 
oblivion.     In  truth,  the  creature  was  contemptible. 

His  one  little  success  was  getting  Parliament  to 
transfer  the  revision  question  from  the  Criminal  Court 
of  Appeal,  which  was  the  only  proper  one  to  consider  it, 
to  a  Commission  of  all  the  Appeal  Courts  united.  If 
the  anti-Dreyfusists  deemed  this  to  be  so  much  gained 
for  their  cause,  they  were  strangely  blind  ;  for,  just  at 
this  time,  finding  the  contrast  between  his  present 
position  and  that  of  the  preceding  year  too  disagree- 
able, Esterhazy  let  it  be  known  that  he  had  once 
been  employed  by  the  Staff  for  the  purpose  of 
counter-espionage.  It  was  the  beginning  of  his  con- 
fessions. 

The  death  of  Felix  Faure  from  apoplexy  took  place 
unexpectedly  in  the  last  days  of  February,  1899.  Active 
and  practical  in  the  discharge  of  his  official  duties, 
popular  even  as  a  President  of  parade,  he  had  played 
his  part  with  too  much  ostentation  for  the  same  real 
respect  to  be  felt  towards  him  as  towards  Sadi  Carnot, 
especially  as,  in  the  great  controversy  that  raged  during 
his  Presidency,  he  had,  whether  intentionally  or  not,  to 
some  extent  permitted  his  name  to   be  used  against 


186    THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

those  who  were  struggling  for  the  triumph  of  justice 
and  pity.  Probably,  his  best  claim  to  remembrance  in 
history  will  be  found  to  have  been  his  steadying 
pressure  on  France's  foreign  policy  in  a  period  fraught 
with  peril. 


PRESIDENT     LOUBET 

From  a  Photograph   by  PIERRE    PETIT 


VIII 

THE    PRESIDENCIES   OF   LOUBET   AND   FALLIERES 

If  the  Nationalists  and  the  Patrie  Francaise  could 
have  had  their  way,  Charles  Dupuy,  the  Prime 
Minister,  would  have  gone  to  the  Elysee,  in  the  room 
of  its  late  occupant.  But  when  Congress  met,  it  was 
seen  he  had  no  chance,  nor  yet  the  Chairman  of  the 
Lower  Chamber,  Paul  Deschanel,  for  all  his  elegant 
manners,  dress,  speech  and  good-looking  person.  The 
unsuccessful  candidate  that  came  nearest  a  majority 
was  Jules  Meline,  who  polled  two  hundred  and 
seventy-nine  votes  to  the  four  hundred  and  eighty- 
three  obtained  by  Emile  Loubet. 

The  new  President  was  born  in  1838  at  Marsanne 
in  the  Drome  Department.  A  farmer's  son,  he  studied 
law  in  Paris,  where  he  graduated  Docteur-en- Droit . 
Having  been  called  to  the  Bar,  he  practised  at  Mon- 
telimar,  near  his  birthplace.  His  first  experience  of 
political  life  was  gained  as  a  Councillor-General,  this 
position  facilitating  his  return  to  Parliament  as  Re- 
publican deputy  for  Montelimar  in  1876.  Nine  years 
later,  he  exchanged  his  deputy's  mandate  for  a  seat  in 
the  Upper  Chamber,  where  he  supported  the  Moderate 
Lefts.  Entrusted  with  the  portfolio  of  Public  Works 
in  the  Tirard  Cabinet  of  1887-8,  he  subsequently 
became,  as  already  related.  Prime  Minister  in   1892, 

i87 


188    THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

and  retained  the  Interior  for  a  short  time  in  the 
Cabinet  of  his  successor,  Monsieur  Ribot.  In  1896, 
the  death  of  Challemel-Lacour  installed  him  in  the 
chair  of  the  Senate,  which  he  still  held  when  elected 
to  the  Presidency. 

It  was  while  he  was  ruling  in  the  serener  atmosphere 
of  the  Conscript  fathers  that  one  of  his  colleagues, 
with  a  touch  of  caricature,  sketched  him  in  the  follow- 
ing language :  '  This  man,  incapable  of  keeping  silent, 
is  a  little,  frisky,  greyish  senator  of  modest  mien, 
whom  modesty  does  not  misbecome,  with  brushed-up 
hair,  pointed  beard,  clear  eyes,  a  drawling,  monotonous, 
uneven  voice  in  which  the  southern  grasshopper's  note 
sings  and  all  the  pots  and  kettles  of  Montelimar  grate — 
a  voice  that  gives  emphasis  to  the  most  surprising 
phrases,  such  for  instance  as  "  The  great  unanimity 
of  the  country  "  ;  "  The  dynamite  that  strikes  not  only 
magistrates  but  also  the  innocent."  The  unlucky  word 
comes  naturally,  and  escapes  from  his  mouth  with 
clarion  distinctness.  He  emphasizes  it  with  a  swaying 
of  his  body,  a  to-and-fro  of  his  legs,  a  bent  attitude 
that  likens  him  to  a  floor  polisher  in  the  exercise  of 
his  task.  He  always,  when  speaking,  seems  to  be 
waxing  the  tribune. — For  the  rest,  he  is  a  very  decent 
fellow.' 

Though  the  last  words  were  an  excellent  definition 
of  Monsieur  Loubet,  disappointment  in  the  noisier 
section  of  the  Nationalist  opposition  caused  him,  on 
his  return  from  Versailles,  to  meet  with  a  hostile  re- 
ception that  shamed  the  capital.  An  attempt  even 
was  made  by  Paul  Deroulede  and  Marcel  Habert,  the 
leaders  of  the  Patriots'  League,  to  annul  the  choice  of 
Congress  by  a    military  coup  d'etat.     While   General 


LOUBET   AND   FALLIERES  189 

Roget  was  leading  his  troops  back,  at  the  close  of  the 
day,  to  their  barracks  in  the  Rue  de  Reuilly,  they 
surrounded  the  detachment  with  a  mob  and  tried  to 
turn  the  General's  horse  in  the  direction  of  the  Elysee. 
Fortunately,  the  General  was  too  wise  to  lend  himself 
to  their  purpose ;  so  the  two  energumens,  instead  of 
marching  in  triumph  to  the  Rue  Saint-Honore,  were 
locked  up  in  the  barrack  cell,  whence  they  were  carried 
off  next  day  to  prison.  Deroulede's  naive  boldness  in 
owning  that  he  wanted  to  save  France  and,  involving 
the  troops  in  an  insurrectional  movement,  to  replace 
the  Parliamentary  Republic  by  a  plebiscitary  one  pro- 
cured him  for  the  nonce  his  judges'  indulgence ;  and 
he  and  Habert  were  liberated.  Before  long,  however, 
they  were  again  impeached  and  did  not  then  get  off  so 
easily. 

That  the  Parliamentary  Republic  which  Deroulede 
detested  did  not  do  so  badly  for  the  country's  interests 
was  proved  by  the  advantageous  arrangement  con- 
cluded in  March  with  the  British  Government,  which, 
in  exchange  for  the  surrender  of  Darfur  and  Bahr-el- 
Gazal,  gave  France  Wadai,  Baghirmi,  and  Kanem,  and 
made  a  homogeneous  whole  of  Algeria,  Tunis,  Senegal, 
Dahomey  and  the  Central  Sudan.  It  was  just  such 
an  example  of  peaceful  negotiations  as  the  Disarma- 
ment Conference,  about  to  sit  at  the  Hague,  advocated. 
The  same  tendency  was  noticeable  in  the  Franco- Italian 
fetes  at  Cagliari.  where  King  Humbert  lunched  with 
Admiral  Fournier  on  the  Brennus  and  inaugurated 
a  happier  era  of  relations  than  had  existed  for  many 
years  between  the  two  Latin  neighbours. 

While  the  Cabinet  was  pursuing  this  praiseworthy 
international   policy,   yet  planning  the   creation   of  a 


190     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

Colonial  army  required  by  the  extension  of  the 
country's  growing  foreign  empire,  the  Dreyfus  revision 
question  was  being  examined  by  the  Courts  of  Appeal, 
amid  an  undiminished  excitement  in  all  classes  of 
society.  The  judges  were  carrying  on  their  proceedings 
in  camera  ;  but,  through  some  privileged  source,  the 
Figaro  managed  to  secure  the  evidence  and  to  publish 
it  day  by  day  in  extenso.  Not  to  be  outdone,  rival 
journals  began  printing  anticipated  statements  of  wit- 
nesses— differing  widely'  from  each  other — which 
naturally  called  forth  protests,  so  that  the  daily  Press 
was  in  constant  ebullition.  Polemists  had  not  had  for 
years  such  a  stimulating  occasion  for  the  display  of 
their  talent,  and  not  a  few  on  either  side  reached  a  high 
level  of  excellence.  Clemenceau,  notably,  in  the 
Aurore,  wrote  with  a  continued  vigour,  freshness  and 
trenchant  logic  probably  unparalleled  in  newspaper 
annals.  There  was  hardly  a  single  man  of  letters  of 
first  rank  who  did  not  abandon  his  more  peaceful 
labours  for  the  arena.  Anatole  France,  de  Pressense, 
Georges  Duruy  threw  in  their  lot  with  the  Dreyfusists, 
the  two  former  identifying  themselves  besides  with  the 
Socialists,  who  had  taken  up  the  cause  of  the  con- 
demned officer.  Against  the  Nationalist  League  rose 
that  of  the  Rights  of  Man,  seeking  to  enlist  public 
sympathy  on  behalf  of  any  that  were  oppressed. 
Alarmed  by  the  action  of  these  various  associations 
formed  without  permission,  the  Cabinet  prosecuted 
them  as  being  unauthorized,  and  inflicted  a  fine  upon 
their  administrators.  The  fine  was  paid,  and  the 
Leagues  went  on  with  their  work. 

Here  and  there,  students  in  the  higher  educational 
institutions    espoused    the    quarrel    of    their    elders. 


LOUBET   AND   FALLI^RES  191 

University  lecturers  were  interrupted  and  some  classes 
had  to  be  temporarily  suspended.  This  occurred  at 
the  Ecole  Poly  technique,  where  the  Professor  of 
History,  Georges  Duruy,  was  refused  a  hearing  by  a 
noisy  minority  of  the  military  cadets  on  account  of  his 
articles  in  the  Figaro  favouring  Dreyfus.  Heckled  in 
the  Chamber  over  the  incident,  Monsieur  de  Freycinet, 
the  Minister  for  War,  contrived  to  irritate  the  majority, 
who  in  turn  made  things  so  unpleasant  for  him  that  he 
resigned. 

As  the  moment  approached  for  the  Appeal  Courts  to 
say  yes  or  no  to  the  revision,  the  Nationalist  deputies 
grew  fiercer  in  their  interpellations.  Every  species  of 
intimidation  was  tried,  in  the  hope  of  frightening  the 
tribunal.  At  last,  on  the  3rd  of  June,  the  senior 
judge,  Monsieur  Ballot-Beaupre,  announced  that  Drey- 
fus was  entitled  to  a  fresh  court  martial,  the  one 
of  1894  having  condemned  him  partly  on  evidence 
which  had  not  been  communicated  to  his  Counsel 
and  partly  on  the  bordereau,  which  the  Court  was 
convinced  had  been  written  by  Esterhazy.  As  for 
the  pretended  confession,  they  deemed  it  to  be 
apocryphal. 

It  was  a  victory  for  common  sense  and  humanity ; 
but  the  anti-Dreyfusists  were  exasperated.  On  the 
very  next  day,  at  the  Auteuil  Races,  a  hostile  demon- 
stration was  made  by  some  sprigs  of  nobility — for  the 
most  part  parvenus — against  the  President  of  the 
Republic,  and  one  of  them,  the  Baron  Fernand  de 
Christiani,  grandson  of  a  general  of  the  Empire, 
rushed  on  Monsieur  Loubet  and  struck  at  him  with 
his  stick,  luckily  without  damage  to  anything  but  the 
Presidential  hat.     The  riot  was  soon  quelled,  and  its 


192     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

ringleader  had  his  ardour  cooled  by  a  sentence  of  four 
years'  imprisonment,  which  Monsieur  Loubet's  mag- 
nanimity reduced  to  one. 

The  aggression  of  these  ceillets  blancs,  as  they  were 
called,  far  from  discrediting  Monsieur  Loubet,  whose 
nickname  *  Panama '  was  quite  beside  the  mark,  pro- 
voked a  movement  of  sympathy,  which  survived  and 
ultimately  rendered  him  popular.  On  the  contrary, 
Premier  and  Ministers  went  down  like  ninepins  under 
the  ricochet  of  the  blow,  the  Senate  and  Deputies  con- 
sidering that  more  effective  measures  should  have  been 
taken  to  safeguard  the  President  and  his  entourage. 
In  sooth,  Monsieur  Dupuy  was  hardly  to  blame,  but 
the  majority  in  both  Chambers  were  in  no  lenient 
mood.  The  revelations  of  the  Courts  of  Appeal  had 
roused  their  indignation  ;  and,  just  before,  with  a  view 
to  sweeping  away  methods  of  the  kind  favoured  by 
General  Mercier,  they  had  voted  a  law  extending  to 
courts  martial  the  obligation  to  hold  a  proper  pre- 
liminary inquiry  before  judging,  and  another  law  com- 
pelling grand  juries  to  admit  cross-examination  in  their 
procedure. 

Indeed,  matters  were  going  adversely  for  the  artisans 
of  the  1894  trial.  Du  Paty  de  Clam  was  arrested 
again ;  Picquart  was  set  at  liberty  after  nearly  twelve 
months'  confinement ;  Zola  had  returned  unmolested 
from  exile  ;  a  fresh  investigation  was  in  course  against 
Esterhazy,  who,  being  safe  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Channel,  cynically  avowed  the  authorship  of  the  bor- 
dereau, adding  that  his  superiors  had  ordered  him  to 
forge  it  so  as  to  ensure  the  conviction  of  Dreyfus ; 
the  question  was  debated  in  Parliament  whether  de 
Pellieux  should  not  be  prosecuted  and  Mercier  sent 


LOUBET   AND   FALLIERES  193 

before  the  Haute  Cour ;  and,  last  but  not  least,  the 
Devil's  Isle  had  given  up  its  prisoner,  and  the  Sfax 
was  conveying  him  back  to  France. 

In  the  interim  Waldeck  Rousseau  had  formed  a 
Government  which  astonished  everybody.  He,  the 
successful  barrister,  and  presumably  Conservative  in 
his  opinions,  a  bourgeois  of  the  intellectual  type,  asso- 
ciated with  himself  an  out-and-out  Socialist,  Millerand, 
as  his  Minister  for  Commerce,  and  an  equally  out-and- 
out  aristocrat  of  the  old  school,  the  Marquis  de  Gallifet, 
as  his  Minister  for  War.  To  many,  the  combination 
seemed  the  jest  of  a  dry  joker,  and  nearly  every  one 
thought  the  Ministry  would  be  still-born.  Yet  it 
lived,  as  paradoxes  will  live  when  they  have  something 
at  the  bottom,  through  the  consummate  ability  of  the 
man  that  begot  it,  and  his  bold  novelty  of  harnessing 
Socialism  and  Conservatism  together.  If  he  did  not 
succeed  in  obliterating  the  antinomy  between  these 
two  rival  tendencies,  he  at  any  rate  effected  something 
scarcely  less  wonderful.  By  the  end  of  his  three  years' 
office  Millerand  had  become  almost  a  Conservative  and 
himself  almost  a  Socialist.  But  then  both  he  and 
Millerand  were  lawyers. 

The  Marquis  de  Gallifet,  whose  severity  in  the  days 
of  the  Commune  caused  him  on  his  first  appearance  as 
Minister  to  be  greeted  with  boisterous  reproaches  by 
the  Extreme  Lefts,  was  a  military  martinet  cf  the 
most  pronounced  type.  It  is  related  that,  being  once 
engaged  on  an  inspection,  he  found  that,  to  return  to 
his  own  quarters,  he  would  have  to  face  a  heavy  shower 
of  rain.  While  he  was  hesitating  at  the  prospect,  his 
companion,  General  Vincendon,  produced  an  umbrella 
and  offered  to  escort  him.     De  Gallifet  accepted,  but, 


194     THE   THIRD    FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

on  arriving,  he  turned  to  his  brother-in-arms,  who,  as 
Brigadier,  was  his  subordinate,  and  curtly  put  him 
under  arrest  for  violating  the  regulations  forbidding  an 
officer  on  duty  to  carry  anything  except  his  accoutre- 
ments. 

The  second  Dreyfus  trial  began  on  the  7th  of  August 
at  Rennes.  There  were  seven  judges,  the  proceedings 
were  open,  and  the  public  that  thronged  the  Court 
contained  Press  representatives  from  the  four  quarters 
of  the  globe.  During  a  whole  month,  the  quiet 
university  town  became  a  cynosure  to  which  all  eyes 
were  turned,  the  tribunal,  a  stage  on  which  a  drama  of 
mystery  and  passion  was  played  out  amidst  an  interest 
unequalled  probably  in  judiciary  records,  unless  by  the 
Tichborne  case.  Though  the  whole  of  the  evidence 
had  been  already  threshed  out  while  the  Courts  of 
Appeal  were  deliberating,  the  presence  of  Dreyfus  and 
the  expectation  of  fresh  information,  continually  pro- 
mised by  the  Anti-Dreyfusists,  yet  never  forthcoming, 
kept  the  excitement  at  fever-heat.  The  only  new 
argument  of  these  opponents  was  a  dastardly  attempt 
by  some  unknown  criminal  to  shoot  Maitre  Labori,  the 
prisoner's  chief  Counsel,  whose  scathing  exposure  of  the 
1894  iniquities  was  damning  to  those  responsible  for 
them.  General  Mercier  was  as  positive  as  ever  in 
affirming  that  Dreyfus  was  guilty,  and  there  is  no  need 
to  doubt  the  sincerity  of  his  belief.  What  astonishes  is 
that  he  should  have  esteemed  himself  justified  in 
bolstering  up,  by  manoeuvres  at  once  disloyal  and 
illegal,  an  opinion  for  which  no  real  proofs  existed. 
Some  one,  he  argued,  was  stealing  confidential  papers. 
Dreyfus  was  in  a  position  to  gain  possession  of  them ; 
and,  since  this  officer  was  always  eager  to  learn  every- 


LOUBET    AND    FALLIERES  195 

thing  he  could  on  the  points  in  question,  it  must  have 
been  he  who  abstracted  the  documents.  Picquart  and 
Maitre  Demange  tore  this  reasoning  to  pieces,  the 
former  demonstrating  that  the  thefts  went  on  after 
Dreyfus  had  left  the  War  Office,  the  latter  that  Dreyfus 
had  shown  to  his  comrades  the  papers  he  was  accused 
of  selling  to  a  foreign  Power,  a  thing  he  would  never 
have  done,  had  he  been  meditating  treason. 

In  fine,  the  entire  prosecution  rested  upon  a  certain 
number  of  verbal  accusations  of  the  vaguest  and  most 
unreliable  kind,  which  no  Civil  Court  would  have 
allowed  to  pass  muster.  The  judges,  however,  by  five 
against  two,  confirmed  the  sentence  of  the  previous 
court  martial,  with  a  rider  according  extenuating  cir- 
cumstances that  made  the  verdict  more  incomprehen- 
sible than  its  predecessor.  The  Cabinet,  which  had 
pledged  itself  to  respect  the  verdict,  whatever  it  might 
be,  escaped  from  a  very  difficult  situation  by  recom- 
mending the  President  of  the  Republic  to  remit  the 
penalty ;  and  Dreyfus,  who  accepted  his  pardon,  was 
restored  to  his  family  before  the  end  of  September. 
Some  of  his  friends — not  having  experienced  what  five 
years'  solitary  confinement  means — would  have  had  him 
reject  the  clemency.  Such  heroism  would  have  been 
useless.  He  wanted  his  health  and  strength  to  work 
for  the  establishment  of  his  innocence. 

After  this  Homeric  struggle,  the  trial  of  Messieurs 
Dcroulcde,  Buffet,  Habert,  Jules  Gucrin  and  a  band 
of  Royalists,  before  the  Haute  Cour  on  the  charge  of 
conspiring  to  overthrow  the  Republic  was  something  of 
an  anticlimax.  The  arrests— nearly  fifty— had  been 
made  in  August,  the  Government  discovering  that 
preparations  had  been  going  on  for  months  in  prevision 


196     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

of  an  armed  rising.  One  of  the  defendants,  Jules 
Guerin,  who  was  at  the  head  of  the  Anti-Semitic 
League,  resisted  the  arrest-warrant ;  and  turned  the 
League's  premises  in  the  Rue  Chabrol  into  a  stronghold 
where,  for  nearly  forty  days,  he  and  his  friends  defied 
the  police.  The  siege  of  Fort  Chabrol  was  the  foil  of 
the  Rennes  tragedy,  and  furnished  the  man  in  the 
street  with  abundant  themes  for  quip  and  quirk.  At 
length,  the  Government's  threat  to  send  a  troop  of 
soldiers  and  storm  the  Fort  induced  surrender,  but  not 
before  Guerin's  exhibition  of  lawlessness  had  been 
imitated  by  some  anarchists,  who  engaged  a  pitched 
battle  with  the  anti-Semites  in  the  city,  and  broke 
into  St.  Joseph's  Church  and  pillaged  it.  The  High 
Court  prosecution  was  not  finished  until  the  New  Year. 
Most  of  the  lesser  fry  got  off,  but  Deroulede,  Buffet 
and  Lur  Saluces  were  banished  for  ten  years,  Habert  for 
five,  while  Guerin  was  sent  to  prison  for  ten  years,  his 
gaol  being  eventually  exchanged  for  exile  also. 

Meanwhile,  difficulties  had  arisen  with  China  over 
the  assassination  of  two  French  officers  in  the  Bay  of 
of  Kwang-chow-wau ;  and,  in  the  French  Sudan, 
Rabah,  the  negro  king  of  Bornou,  was  harassing  the 
missions  sent  to  explore  this  latest  addition  to  the 
Republic's  colonies.  De  Behagle,  falling  into  his  hands, 
was  put  to  death,  and  a  portion  of  a  force  under 
Gentil  was  massacred.  Elsewhere  there  was  trouble 
of  another  kind.  Captains  Voulet  and  Chanoine,  who 
were  at  the  head  of  a  party  of  pioneers  marching  to- 
wards Lake  Tchad,  had  been  denounced  to  the  Home 
authorities  as  behaving  cruelly  to  the  natives ;  and  the 
Government  had  sent  Lieutenant- Colonel  Klobb  with 
a  small  body  of  troops  to  take  over  the  command  of 


^   - 


O      J= 


O   i 

2    « 


LOUBET   AND   FALLIERES  197 

the  expedition  and  report  on  the  subject.  Enraged  at 
being  thus  superseded,  Voulet,  who  would  seem  to 
have  been  completely  unbalanced  by  his  contact  with 
uncivilized  life,  ordered  his  men  to  fire  on  the  Colonel, 
killing  him  outright,  and  grievously  wounding  his 
second,  Lieutenant  Magnier.  This  painful  news  had 
scarcely  reached  France  when  the  announcement  came 
that  Voulet  and  Chanoine  had  in  turn  been  shot  by 
their  own  troops,  whom  they  had  sought  to  lead  away 
on  the  mad  enterprise  of  founding  a  kingdom  of  their 
own  in  the  heart  of  Africa. 

To  domestic  affairs  the  autumn  brought  a  period  of 
relative  tranquillity ;  and  the  Prime  Minister  had  the 
satisfaction  of  successfully  arbitrating  at  Creusot,  an 
important  metallurgic  works  occupying  some  twenty- 
five  thousand  people,  with  a  vast  output  of  coal  and 
iron  running  into  hundreds  of  thousands  of  tons,  where 
a  long  strife  had  been  waged  between  employers  and 
employees  over  the  recognition  of  the  Labour  Syndi- 
cate. 

The  quieter  trend  persisted  throughout  most  of  the 
year  1900,  the  salient  feature  of  which  was  the  centen- 
ary Exposition.  With  perfect  correctness,  Monsieur 
Delcasse  refused  to  listen  to  the  solicitations  of  certain 
deputies  and  a  considerable  section  of  the  Press,  who, 
mainly  from  animosity  to  England,  were  encouraging 
the  Boer  Republics  in  the  war  they  had  declared 
against  Great  Britain.  Indeed,  it  would  have  been 
preposterous  for  a  Government  which  had  invaded  and 
annexed  Madagascar,  and  dethroned  its  monarch  for  a 
cause  concerning  only  a  small  number  of  Frenchmen, 
to  dictate  to  a  sister  nation  whose  subjects  in  South 
Africa  were   many  thousands,  and  whose  contiguous 


198     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

territories  there  were  immense.  With  more  raison 
d'etre,  these  same  deputies  devoted  their  attention  to 
increasing  the  fleet  for  the  protection  of  the  country's 
coast-line,  and  to  creating  an  all-French  network  of 
submarine  cables  instead  of  depending  on  British  ones. 
The  Exhibition,  which  opened  its  doors  in  the  middle 
of  April,  was  the  most  colossal  World's  Fair  that  Paris 
had  yet  seen.  Covering  the  old  sites  of  the  Champ  de 
Mars  and  the  Trocadero,  it  took  in  both  banks  of  the 
Seine  between  the  Pont  d'lena  and  the  Pont  de  la 
Concorde ;  and  had  its  two  palaces  on  the  borders  of 
the  Champs  Elysees,  its  metropolitan  underground  and 
another  new  railway  from  Saint-Lazare  to  the  Champ 
de  Mars  and  the  Invalides,  as  permanent  gains  to  the 
attractions  of  the  capital.  In  its  exterior  aspect,  there 
was  too  much  white,  exception  made  for  the  Rue  des 
Nations,  and  for  the  Vieux  Paris,  whose  variety  of 
architecture  and  colouring  were  a  delightful  feast  for 
the  eyes.  A  fair  proportion  of  aetualites  figured  among 
the  side-shows — a  Swiss  village  near  the  Champ  de 
Mars;  a  Madagascar  pavilion  on  the  Place  du  Trocadero; 
close  by  it,  one  detailing  Marchand's  expedition ;  and, 
in  the  Trocadero  gardens,  a  Boer  farm-house  and  the 
Transvaal  pavilion,  where  English  visitors  were  able  to 
see  their  nation  caricatured  and  reviled  and  Oom  Paul 
extolled  to  the  skies.  The  centenary  art  collection  was 
a  most  valuable  contribution  to  the  more  serious  things ; 
and  the  topsy-turvy  house  a  curiosity  that  competed 
with  the  big  telescope  and  the  travelling  platform.  As 
usual,  on  such  occasions,  popular  personages  were  on 
view ;  twenty-odd  thousand  mayors  gathered  in  a 
banquet ;  Boer  warriors  more  or  less  authentic  dis- 
played their  prowess  in  shooting  at  Tommy  Atkins ; 


LOUBET   AND   FALLIERES  199 

the  Shah  paid  his  visit  and  narrowly  escaped  assassina- 
tion by  an  anarchist  named  Salson ;  and  the  Parisians 
would  have  liked  to  give  Marchand  another  triumph; 
but  the  Government,  remembering  Boulanger  and  fear- 
ing the  capital's  weakness  for  hero-worship,  vetoed  the 
Town  Council's  invitation  of  the  Colonel  to  a  solemn 
reception  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville. 

The  arrival  of  the  late  President  of  the  Transvaal, 
towards  the  end  of  November,  his  welcome  by  the 
Town  Council,  and  the  honours  paid  him  by  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Republic  and  the  Foreign  Office  raised  once 
more  the  hopes  of  those  who  were  aiding  the  Boers 
with  money  and  men.  Among  the  general  public, 
however,  there  was  less  effervescence  than  in  the  earlier 
months  of  the  war,  and  few  imagined  that  any  good 
would  result  from  the  visit.  In  reality,  the  acute  phase 
of  Anglophobia'  was  past ;  and,  after  the  German 
Emperor's  repulse  of  Mr.  Kruger  at  Cologne,  the 
movement  in  favour  of  Boer  independence  dwindled 
and  languished.  Moreover,  in  the  latter  half  of  1900, 
the  Boxer  Rebellion  in  China,  with  its  attack  on  the 
foreign  embassies,  threw  the  South  African  War  into  the 
background  ;  and,  perforce,  united  French  and  English 
in  co-operation  against  a  common  danger. 

In  the  Sudan,  the  Republic  was  still  pursuing  its 
conquests.  During  July,  a  French  force  had  defeated 
and  killed  King  Rabah  at  Kursuri,  losing  Major 
Lamy  in  the  battle.  The  Minister  for  War,  at  present, 
was  General  Andre,  who  had  replaced  Gallifet  in  June, 
the  old-school  Marquis  finding  himself  ill  at  ease  in 
surroundings  so  foreign  to  his  aristocratic  tastes. 
General  Andre's  advent  meant  important  changes  in 
army  organization.     Hitherto  the  elder  Generals  had 


200     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

enjoyed  a  semi-independence  which  practically  escaped 
the  Minister's  control ;  and,  since  a  strong  Royalist 
and  Imperialist  leaven  existed  among  the  officers,  the 
Republican  Government  had  never  been  quite  secure 
against  a  military  coup  d'etat.  General  Andre  now  bent 
his  efforts  to  the  fostering  of  Republicanism  in  the  com- 
missioned as  well  as  the  non-commissioned  ranks  of  the 
army  ;  and  his  first  reform  was  to  insist  on  all  promo- 
tions being  properly  submitted  to  Ministerial  approval. 
Resignations  from  the  Staff  followed.  Jamont,  the 
Generalissimo,  retired,  and  General  Brugere  received 
the  post. 

Almost  the  last  event  of  the  twelvemonth  was  the 
voting  of  an  Amnesty  Bill  wiping  out,  up  to  date,  the 
responsibilities  real  or  supposed  of  the  entire  Dreyfus 
affair.  Energetic  protests  were  lodged  by  Dreyfus, 
Picquart  and  Zola  against  this  blocking  of  the  way,  as 
they  deemed  it,  to  future  reparation ;  but  the  Chambers, 
desiring  to  heal  a  breach  which  was  better  closed, 
neglected  these  petitions. 

The  year  1901,  which  further  accentuated  the 
Republic's  friendlier  relations  with  England  by  the 
sympathy  shown  on  the  occasion  of  Queen  Victoria's 
death,  and  with  Italy,  whose  fleet  under  the  orders  of 
the  Duke  of  Genoa  greeted  the  President  while  on  one 
of  his  official  tours,  was  signalized  by  the  commence- 
ment of  the  definitive  battle  between  Church  and 
State  for  supremacy.  And  first,  it  was  the  Re- 
ligious Orders  that  were  struck  at.  In  truth,  these 
had  been  already  once  suppressed,  in  1792,  during  the 
Great  Revolution  ;  but  they  had  revived  under  cover 
of  the  Concordat,  and,  at  present,  occupied  their  old 
privileged  position,  freer  even  than  the  secular  clergy; 


LOUBET   AND   FALLIERES  201 

and,  being  governed  by  superiors  for  the  most  part 
foreigners,  exercised  an  authority  in  many  respects 
clashing  with  that  of  the  civil  jurisdiction.  They  had 
schools  more  numerous  than  their  monasteries  and 
nunneries,  and  were  able  to  influence  the  youth  of  the 
country  at  both  ends  of  the  social  scale.  This  influence 
on  the  whole  was  not  favourable  to  the  Republic  ;  so 
that  the  Government,  as  long  as  they  imposed  no 
restrictions  on  the  Orders,  had  to  face  the  possibility 
of  the  Republic's  being  overthrown  by  a  religious 
revolution  peaceful  or  otherwise.  Induced  by  con- 
siderations of  this  nature,  the  Cabinet  determined  to 
oblige  all  Orders,  within  a  few  months'  delay,  to  solicit 
the  permission  to  teach  ;  and  their  Bill  besides  required 
the  statutes  of  each  Order  to  be  submitted  for 
approval.  By  such  means,  it  was  hoped  a  sufficient 
hold  would  be  obtained  over  all  educational  institutions 
carried  on  by  monks  and  nuns  for  their  anti-Republican 
teaching  to  be  checked,  Monsieur  Ribot,  no  less  than 
the  Comte  de  Mun,  strongly  combated  this  interference 
with  the  liberty  of  the  family  to  have  its  children 
educated  by  whomsoever  it  thought  fit ;  and,  even 
among  the  Lefts,  some  thought  the  Republic  would 
not  suffer  by  leaving  the  Orders  alone,  and  competing 
with  them  through  the  greater  attractiveness  of  its 
I ,ycees  and  other  educational  institutions.  This  theory 
of  ideal  liberty  would  have  appealed  to  the  majority 
more  if  the  Catholic  Church  had  not  herself  been 
always  opposed  to  individual  freedom,  and  were 
not  ever  using  her  so-called  divine  rights  against 
any  and  every  other  rule  than  her  own.  Four 
Orders,  the  Jesuits,  Benedictines,  Carmelites  and 
Assumptionists,  failed  to  regularize  their  situation  in 


202     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

the  limit  of  time  assigned,  and  were  at  once  pro- 
scribed. 

As  a  set-off  to  his  repressive  legislation,  the  Prime 
Minister  favoured  a  further  consideration  of  the  Old 
Age  Pension  scheme,  which  was  a  familiar  subject 
now  in  Parliamentary  debates ;  and  even  the  question 
of  a  minimum  wage  in  mines  was  discussed  without 
too  much  repugnance,  though  Monsieur  Poincare  and 
the  Moderates  shook  their  heads  sadly  over  the  Prime 
Minister's  complaisance.  Bills  like  Monsieur  Berenger  s, 
on  the  rehabilitation  of  bankrupts,  pleased  them  better. 

Monsieur  Delcasse's  journey  to  St.  Petersburg  in 
April  had  prepared  a  second  trip  of  the  Czar  and 
Czarina  to  France  in  October,  a  pleasant  week  being 
spent  at  the  manoeuvres  in  the  east  and  at  the  fine 
historic  castle  of  Compiegne,  built  by  Louis  XV  and 
embellished  by  Napoleon  I.  The  French  fleet's  ap- 
pearance in  November  at  the  isle  of  Lesbos,  once  dear 
to  Sappho,  was  less  amicable,  being  a  hint  to  the  Sultan, 
which  he  took,  to  settle  a  debt  due  to  some  of  the 
Republic's  subjects  and  to  consent  to  the  rebuilding  of 
some  French  hospitable  establishments  in  Turkey  that 
had  been  destroyed. 

Unfortunately,  in  this  year,  the  country's  financial 
position  was  far  from  brilliant.  For  the  first  time  since 
1870,  the  budget  presented  a  deficit  of  one  hundred 
and  seventy-five  million  francs.  And,  though  expenses 
were  growing,  the  population's  rate  of  increase  was 
diminishing.  A  Committee  was  appointed  for  the 
purpose  of  remedying,  if  possible,  the  depopulation, 
which  apparently  was  due,  not  only  to  prudential  and 
economic  causes,  but  to  an  excessive  infant  mortality. 

If  1901  was  rather  a  monotonous  year,  its  successor 


LOUBET   AND   FALL1ERES  203 

had  variety  galore.  The  Deputies,  having  to  consult 
their  constituents  in  the  spring,  were  anxious  to  finish 
with  a  good  record ;  and,  in  addition  to  fixing  eight 
hours  as  the  work-day  in  mines  and  establishing  free 
labour  offices  for  persons  out  of  employment,  tried 
to  lengthen  their  own  mandate  from  four  to  six  years, 
but  managed  only  to  define  and  penalize  political 
bribery. 

An  interlude  before  the  electoral  campaign  was  fur- 
nished by  the  March  centenary  fetes  in  honour  of  Victor 
Hugo's  birth,  which  were  celebrated  with  an  enthusiasm 
that  was  a  renewed  apotheosis.  Stories  of  the  great 
man  were  plentiful ;  yet  no  one  seemed  to  remember 
the  dialogue  once  exchanged  between  him  and  Leconte 
de  Lisle,  each  of  them  sufficiently  persuaded  of  his  own 
worth.  '  I  sometimes  wonder,'  said  Hugo,  '  what  I 
should  say  if,  on  dying,  I  should  suddenly  find  myself  in 
presence  of  the  Deity  ! '  '  You  would  say,'  answered 
his  friend,  '  "  Good  morning,  my  dear  colleague." 

April  was  a  month  of  placards  and  diatribes.  The 
Patrie  Franpaise  rampaged  and  roared ;  the  Socialists, 
with  battalions  of  Blanquists,  Allemanists  and  Liber- 
taries,  strove  to  enlist  the  masses  on  their  side.  Much 
sense  and  nonsense  was  spoken,  and  a  few  wags  posed 
as  special  candidates — one  for  the  domestic  servants, 
another  for  the  street  hawkers,  while  a  Monsieur  Hego 
placed  on  his  programme  the  prolongation  of  the  Circle 
Railway  and  the  suppression  of — Gas.  The  assault 
delivered  by  the  opposition  was  a  rude  one  ;  but  the 
block  came  out  with  some  fifty  votes  to  the  good.  Its 
majority  was  chiefly  Radical  and  Socialist,  yet  Jaures 
was  badly  beaten ;  Drumont  the  Nationalist,  on  the 
other  hand,  was  ousted  at  Algiers ;  Doumer,  the  late 


204    THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

Governor-General  of  Indo-China,  re-entered  the 
Chamber,  and  Clemenceau,  after  nearly  ten  years' 
absence  from  Parliament,  was  fain  to  content  himself 
with  admission  to  the  Senate. 

The  May  month  was  yet  young,  and  people  were 
still  tabulating  the  relative  gains  and  losses,  when 
telegrams  flashed  to  France  the  terrible  announcement 
of  the  volcanic  eruption  in  the  French  island  of  Mar- 
tinique, the  destruction  of  the  town  of  Saint  Pierre  and 
the  death  of  more  than  twenty-five  thousand  inhabi- 
tants. It  was  a  disaster  which  called  forth  the 
sympathy  and  help  of  all  civilized  nations.  The  United 
States,  as  being  nearest,  gave  half  a  million  dollars, 
and  even  the  Sultan,  to  show  that  he  bore  no  malice, 
offered  his  widow's  mite. 

The  flight  of  the  Humbert-Daurignac  family,  hap- 
pening close  on  the  heels  of  this  calamity,  diverted 
public  attention  from  it  to  some  extent  by  the  extra- 
ordinary nature  of  the  swindle  that  had  been  perpe- 
trated and  the  scandal  ensuing.  Therese  Humbert 
was  the  wife  of  Frederic  Humbert,  a  late  Radical 
deputy,  and  daughter-in-law  to  Gustave  Humbert, 
formerly  a  Cabinet  Minister.  For  nearly  twenty  years 
she  and  her  sister,  Marie  Daurignac,  had  been  considered 
as  the  residuary  legatees  of  a  rich  American  named 
Crawford,  who  had  left  them  a  third  of  his  vast  fortune, 
his  two  nephews  inheriting  the  remaining  two-thirds 
on  condition  they  paid  Madame  Humbert  a  life  annuity 
of  three  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  francs.  A  dispute 
having  arisen  over  the  will  in  1883,  Therese  had  been 
appointed  sequestrator  of  the  inheritance  until  an  ar- 
rangement should  be  effected,  and  the  deeds  were 
supposed  to  be  locked   up  in  a  safe  that  was  in  her 


LOUBET   AND   FALL1ERES  205 

possession.  From  that  date  forward  litigation  had 
gone  on,  Madame  Humbert  pleading  against  the 
nephews,  who  persisted  in  claiming  the  whole  of  the 
fortune.  On  account  of  the  largeness  of  the  amount 
involved,  she  found  no  difficulty  in  borrowing  from 
bankers  and  other  wealthy  persons  at  an  interest  ad- 
vantageous to  the  lenders.  Already,  in  one  of  the 
hearings  of  the  case  during  1897,  Waldeck  Rousseau 
had  boldly  given  his  opinion  that  the  whole  thing  was 
a  gigantic  fraud,  but  his  voice  was  not  listened  to  ;  and 
it  was  not  until  the  Matin  newspaper  began  a  series  of 
articles  in  1902,  calling  for  the  compulsory  opening  of 
the  mysterious  safe,  that  the  existence  of  the  Crawfords 
— uncle,  nephews  and  their  fortune — was  discovered 
to  be  a  myth,  and  the  wonderful  juggler's  box  empty 
of  values  and  money.  The  arrest  of  the  Humbert 
family  in  Spain  and  their  trial  and  conviction 
followed  in  due  course,  and  the  affair  supplied  the 
Nationalist  party  with  ample  material  for  laying  all 
sorts  of  charges  at  the  door  of  the  Government.  In  a 
manner  Therese  Humbert  was  a  genius.  For  the 
entire  period  of  this  weary  lawsuit  she  had  maintained 
her  position  in  the  best  society,  nearly  married  her 
daughter  to  Paul  Deschanel,  and  had  had  the  unique 
honour  of  deceiving  at  least  one  eminent  barrister  and 
at  least  one  Jewish  banker.  It  would  almost  seem 
that  she  succeeded  in  deceiving  herself,  for,  to  the  last, 
she  proclaimed  the  truth  of  her  story,  when  every  one 
else  had  lost  faith  in  it. 

This  colossal  hoax  somewhat  dwarfed  the  importance 
of  Monsieur  Loubet's  summer  excursion  on  the  Mont- 
calm as  far  as  Russia,  and  his  extra  trip  to  the  Court 
of  Denmark  when  coming  back.     As  a  matter  of  fact 


206     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

he  was  out-Felixing  Felix  Faure  in  his  commerce  with 
kings,  although  he  had  too  much  common  sense  to 
imitate  Monsieur  Faure's  affectation  of  Royalism  or 
Monsieur  Faure's  supercilious  utterance  of  such  phrases 
as  Ce  de  Galles  est  un  charmant  gaiyon. 

Business  awaited  him  on  his  return  to  Paris,  for 
the  Cabinet  had  voluntarily  surrendered  office.  The 
resignation  was  hardly  understood  at  the  time,  since 
the  Governmental  strength  was  intact.  Only  a  few 
intimate  friends  suspected  that  Waldeck  Rousseau  was 
suffering  from  an  internal  malady  which  must  soon 
prove  fatal.  Monsieur  Combes,  a  comparatively  un- 
known statesman,  took  over  the  assets  and  liabilities, 
with  Rouvier  at  the  Exchequer  and  Andre  at  the  War 
Office,  whilst  Camille  Pelletan,  the  staunch  Radical- 
Socialist  and  vivacious  journalist,  described  by  a 
humorous  confrere  as  un  grand  diable  mal  peigne, 
went  to  the  Navy  Department. 

It  was  soon  seen  that  the  Church  and  State  duel 
was  to  be  pursued  without  mercy,  and  that  Monsieur 
Combes'  little  finger  would  be  thicker  than  Waldeck 
Rousseau's  loins.  Since  the  promulgation  of  the 
Religious  Orders  Act,  or  rather  the  Act  in  which 
they  were  included,  a  large  number  of  educational 
institutions  had  been  surreptitiously  opened  by  asso- 
ciations of  monks  and  nuns  in  the  hope  of  ob- 
taining authorization.  These  were  every  one  shut 
up  and  closed  by  the  authorities.  There  were 
street  manifestations,  in  which  the  Comtesse  de 
Mun  and  other  aristocratic  ladies  figured  ;  Jules 
Lemaitre  harangued  audiences  at  the  Arc  de  Triomphe, 
but  to  no  purpose.  The  Prime  Minister  was  inexor- 
able.    In    some    districts   military    force    had    to    be 


LOUBET   AND   FALLIERES  207 

employed  in  emptying  the  conventual  premises,  the 
population  taking  up  arms.  At  Ploudaniel  fully  five 
hundred  peasants  showed  right,  and  the  task  was  in  one 
or  two  instances  rendered  more  difficult  by  a  captain  or 
a  lieutenant's  refusing  to  carry  out  his  instructions. 

The  question  of  army  reform  was  in  this  year  a 
preoccupation  with  the  Minister  for  War  and  his 
colleagues.  An  important  modification  in  the  con- 
ditions of  service  did  away  with  the  concession  by 
which  young  men  provided  with  a  University  diploma 
had  only  to  give  one  year,  and  fixed  on  a  two  years' 
period  of  service  for  all.  No  exceptions  henceforth 
were  to  be  made,  save  in  the  case  of  physical  unfitness. 
Even  the  son  of  the  widow  or  the  only  child  of  an 
indigent  parent  depending  upon  him  must  offer  the 
two  years'  tale,  a  small  monetary  compensation  being 
paid  while  he  was  in  the  ranks.  The  time  reduction 
was  strongly  condemned  by  certain  experts,  including 
Generals  Billot,  Mercier  and  de  Gallifet,  and  as 
strongly  defended  by  others,  with  General  Andre  and 
Monsieur  de  Freycinet.  At  the  basis  of  the  Bill  was 
the  principle  of  an  equal  treatment  for  all  and  no 
privilege ;  but  theoretic  equality  is  often  a  chimera ; 
and,  in  reality,  the  poorer  middle  class,  which  in  the 
past  had  yielded  such  a  contingent  of  able  citizens  to 
the  Republic,  was  heavily  handicapped  by  the  new 
regulations.  Compelled  to  study  four,  five  and  six 
years  without  earning  anything,  in  order  to  enter 
one  of  the  learned  professions,  the  poor  youth  saw 
his  unremunerative  probation  time  disproportionately 
lengthened,  his  chance  of  rising  enormously  diminished, 
and  his  parents — too  proud  to  ask  for  charity — unduly 
burdened. 


208     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

To  the  Government's  foreign  relations,  1902  brought 
but  little  change.  A  rectification  of  the  Siamese 
frontier  in  return  for  evacuating  Chantaboum,  the 
accession  of  another  Bey  in  Tunis,  a  petty  revolt  in 
the  French  Congo  in  the  Lower  and  Upper  Sanga,  a 
welcome  given  to  the  Canadian  Premier,  Sir  Wilfrid 
Laurier,  as  also  to  the  Boer  Generals,  Botha,  De  Wet 
and  Delarey,  who  were  on  a  European  tour,  seeking 
money  and  finding  cash  scarcer  than  sympathy — these 
were  the  chief  items  of  the  year.  In  finance  the  re- 
turns were  as  disappointing  as  during  1901.  A  deficit 
of  221  millions  faced  Monsieur  Rouvier  at  the  end  of 
December,  in  spite  of  his  conversion  of  the  three  and 
a  half  per  cent  Rentes  into  three  per  cents ;  and  the 
Income-Tax  project,  which  he  longingly  regarded  as  a 
Deus  ex  machind  to  replenish  the  Treasury,  was  a  bait 
that  the  Chambers  continued  to  reject. 

Strengthened  by  the  senatorial  elections  in  January, 
Monsieur  Combes  kept  up  his  anti-clerical  policy  with 
vigour  throughout  1903.  Availing  himself  of  the 
discovery  of  some  hostile  brochures  issued  by  the 
Carthusians,  he  induced  Parliament  to  turn  down  their 
application  to  stay  in  their  monasteries,  so  that  they 
were  compelled  to  transport  the  manufacturing  of 
their  famous  liqueur  beyond  the  French  frontier.  Re- 
venging himself  for  this  blow,  the  Carthusian  Superior 
launched  into  circulation  a  report  greedily  propagated 
by  the  Nationalists  to  the  effect  that  Monsieur  Combes 
and  Monsieur  Pelletan  had  sought  to  compound  with 
the  Order  on  condition  of  a  million  francs  being  paid 
into  their  pockets.  It  was  an  absurd  accusation,  and 
the  reverend  father,  when  challenged  to  produce  his 
intermediary,  could  only  say  that  some  individual  had 


.  o 


W     o 

3 


LOUBET   AND   FALL1ERES  209 

come  to  him  as  if  from  the  Premier.  Who  this  person 
was  he  declined  to  mention.  Probably  it  was  a  vulgar 
swindler  put  in  appetite  by  Madame  Humbert's  ex- 
ample and  Nationalist  gullibility. 

Such  methods  of  defence  were  scarcely  calculated  to 
soften  the  Cabinet,  who  soon  proceeded  to  deprive  all 
Religious  Orders  of  the  right  to  teach  or  preach,  and 
required  any  ecclesiastic  engaged  in  tuition  to  satisfy 
the  authorities  that  he  was  a  secular,  not  a  regular  one. 
At  the  same  time,  in  order  that  conventual  influence 
might  be  rooted  out  from  wherever  it  lurked,  lay 
nurses  were  substituted  for  nuns  in  the  public  hos- 
pitals. Perhaps  the  aged  Leo  XIII,  if  he  had  lived 
longer,  would  have  tried,  after  this  warning,  to  make 
terms  with  the  Republic  and  to  save  what  was  left  of 
the  Concordat.  His  death  in  July  was  inopportune. 
It  placed  at  the  Vatican  a  man  of  hide-bound  intelli- 
gence, whose  dictatorial  manner  and  unwise  interfer- 
ence provoked  the  Government  to  snap  the  last  slender 
ties  that  bound  France  to  the  Papacy. 

Compared  with  Monsieur  Combes,  on  whose  devoted 
person  all  the  phials  of  Nationalist  and  clerical  wrath 
were  being  poured  out,  Monsieur  Loubet  was  to  be 
envied.  His  genial  simplicity  had  conquered  all  parties, 
and  his  success  at  the  Elysee  was  indisputable.  In 
April,  he  made  a  triumphal  progress  to  Algiers,  where 
he  was  saluted  by  the  united  fleets  of  Italy,  Spain, 
Russia  and  Great  Britain.  In  May,  he  entertained 
King  Edward  VII  in  Paris,  the  inhabitants  forgetting 
ancient  prejudices  against  England  and  according  the 
British  monarch  a  downright  cordial  reception.  In 
July,  he  was  the  King's  guest  in  London,  and  got  a 
welcome  there  equal  to  that  of  any  sovereign  who  had 


210     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

visited  British  soil.  And,  a  few  months  later,  it  was 
the  King  of  Italy  to  whom  he  played  host  amidst 
general  rejoicings  in  the  capital.  Even  Monsieur 
Deroulede  from  his  exile  looked  upon  the  blossoming 
entente  eordiale  with  an  approving  eye,  and  wrote 
a  letter  to  the  Patrie,  whose  head-lines  were  nearly 
always  some  insult  to  England,  and  roundly  blamed 
that  newspaper's  advice  to  its  readers  to  hiss  King 
Edward  in  the  streets.  Arbitration  was  in  the  air. 
A  treaty  was  signed  in  October  between  England  and 
France  binding  them  for  five  years  to  submit  differ- 
ences that  did  not  touch  any  gravely  vital  interest  to 
the  Tribunal  at  the  Hague.  These  exchanges  of 
courtesy  and  good  feeling  among  the  heads  of  States 
suggested  their  extension  to  other  public  representa- 
tives. In  the  autumn,  the  London  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce was  officially  invited  to  Paris,  and  Lord  Brassey, 
accompanied  by  a  group  of  British  members  of  Parlia- 
ment, came  over  to  rub  elbows  with  his  confreres  of 
the  Palais  Bourbon  and  to  lunch  at  the  Elysee. 

The  heroic  note  of  the  year  was  Doctor  Jean 
Charcot's  departure  on  a  voyage  of  exploration  to  the 
South  Pole ;  the  comic  note  was  the  millionaire 
Jacques  Lebaudy's  freak  in  chartering  the  Frasquita 
and  sailing  for  North-West  Africa,  where  he  was  in- 
tending to  found  an  empire  on  the  borders  of  Morocco 
with  himself  as  its  ruler.  Everything  was  prepared — 
on  paper ;  his  title  of  Jacques  I,  Emperor  of  the 
Sahara,  was  chosen,  and  his  capital,  Troja,  was  fixed — 
in  the  desert,  when  the  enterprise  was  cut  short  by  the 
untimely  revolt  of  his  first  subjects,  the  crew  of  the 
Frasquita,  who  abandoned  their  prospective  advan- 
tages  as   great   lords   of  the   Sahara,  preferring  their 


LOUBET   AND   FALL1ERES  211 

humbler  role  of  French  citizens.  The  subsequent 
adventures  of  Jacques  I,  at  home  and  abroad,  need 
not  be  told  here.  Are  they  not  written  in  the  book  of 
the  chronicles  of  society  gossip  ?  Over  against  this 
farce  was  the  initial  tragedy  of  the  Metropolitan  Rail- 
way. In  a  tunnel  of  the  exterior  boulevards  an 
explosion  occurred,  and  in  the  mad  rush  of  the  passen- 
gers nearly  a  hundred  perished. 

Monsieur  Combes'  last  twelvemonth  of  power, 
which  coincided  with  the  main  phases  and  surprises  of 
the  Russo-Japanese  War,  was  largely  taken  up  with 
things  ecclesiastical.  Though  disestablishment  was 
now  regarded  as  inevitable  by  all  parties,  few  thought 
it  would  come  so  quickly.  Seeming  accident  precipi- 
tated the  event.  Monsieur  Loubet,  having  gone  in 
April,  1904,  to  pay  his  compliments  at  the  Quirinal, 
Pius  X  made  a  strong  protest  against  what  he  con- 
sidered as  an  infringement  of  his  own  royal  preroga- 
tive, and  the  protest  was  conceived  in  such  language 
that  the  Government  withdrew  their  ambassador  from 
the  Vatican.  Shortly  afterwards,  the  Pope,  disregard- 
ing the  obligations  of  the  Concordat,  summoned  two 
bishops  that  had  difficulties  in  their  dioceses  to  come 
to  Rome,  the  command  being  addressed  to  them  direct 
and  without  the  civil  authority's  consent  being  ob- 
tained. This  the  Government  interpreted  as  being  the 
illegal  publication  of  a  bull  in  France ;  and,  when  one 
of  the  bishops,  in  spite  of  their  counter-order,  obeyed 
the  Pope's  injunction,  they  dismissed  the  Papal  Nuncio 
from  Paris.  The  die  was  cast ;  separation  was  decided 
on.  Another  Prime  Minister  was  in  office  before  the 
Bill  was  actually  shaped  into  a  law.  but  its  framing 
belonged  to  this  year. 


212     THE   THIRD   FRENCH    REPUBLIC 

The  final  reopening  of  the  Dreyfus  case,  in  March, 
by  the  Court  of  Appeal,  which  found  there  were  valid 
reasons  for  revising  the  Rennes  trial,  had  been  fore- 
shadowed by  a  ministerial  declaration  in  the  previous 
December.  In  the  lustrum  that  had  elapsed  since 
1899,  people  had  grown  sceptical  of  any  further  eluci- 
dation of  the  Affair,  and  even,  to  some  extent,  weary 
of  the  controversy.  Zola  was  dead,  some  other  chief 
actors  in  the  drama  also.  Moreover,  the  Court, 
probably  with  intention,  carried  on  its  investigations 
intermittently,  so  that  the  innocence  of  Dreyfus  was 
not  proclaimed  until  two  summers  later. 

In  April,  the  Republic  made  an  agreement  with 
Great  Britain,  settling  the  long-pending  disputes  over 
Newfoundland  and  Egypt.  The  French  shore-rights 
were  given  up  in  Newfoundland,  and,  in  compensation, 
France  received  a  band  of  territory  in  the  Tchad 
region  of  Africa,  together  with  the  isles  of  Laos  on 
the  coast,  a  balance  being  struck  by  the  rectification 
of  the  Gambian  frontier  in  favour  of  Great  Britain. 
As  regarded  Egypt,  the  Republic  abandoned  its  oppo- 
sition to  British  action  there,  while  a  free  hand  was 
allowed  to  France  in  Morocco,  provided  treaty  rights 
were  respected  and  no  fortresses  were  erected  on  the 
coast.  The  French  Press  in  general  held  the  arrange- 
ment to  be  advantageous  to  their  own  country.  In 
Parliament,  however,  a  small  minority,  with  Monsieur 
Deschanel  as  chief  spokesman,  voiced  the  opinion  that 
England  was  getting  the  bigger  share  of  the  cake. 
Curiously  enough,  a  minority  in  England  said  the  same 
thing  about  France. 

Proof  against  Opposition  assaults  on  its  Church  and 
education   policy,   which   to    the    Rights    and    Right 


LOUBET   AND   FALLIERES  213 

Centres  was  the  fount  of  its  offending,  the  Cabinet, 
to  the  great  joy  of  the  Nationalists,  was  found  at 
length  to  have  a  vulnerable  member  in  General  Andre, 
who,  in  his  anxiety  to  republicanize  the  Army,  had 
been  led  to  wink  at,  if  not  to  abet,  the  collecting  of 
secret  reports  about  every  officer  in  the  service,  with 
special  reference  to  political  and  religious  bias,  such 
information  being  obtained  mostly  through  indirect 
sources,  one  of  which  was  the  Freemasons'  Society, 
better  known  as  the  Grand  Orient.  In  truth,  the 
docketing  of  officers  was  not  invented  under  General 
Andre's  administration.  It  had  been  practised,  in  one 
form  or  another,  during  various  anterior  regimes. 
What  was  new,  perhaps,  was  the  more  perfect  systema- 
tizing of  the  reports  and — their  publication.  The 
publication  was  a  paid  job.  A  Nationalist,  Monsieur 
Guyot  de  Villeneuve  by  name,  bribed  an  underling  of 
the  Grand  Orient  and  gained  possession  of  a  whole 
mass  of  these  fiches,  as  they  were  called,  which  he 
began  printing  in  driblets  in  the  Figaro.  The  sensa- 
tion was  enormous.  A  concerted  attack  was  forth- 
with made  on  the  Minister  for  War,  who,  though 
hitting  back  valiantly,  came  off  second  best  in  the 
encounter.  In  vain  he  disculpated  himself  from  the 
charge  of  personally  encouraging  denunciation,  in  vain 
were  one  or  two  of  his  subordinates  sacrificed,  while 
the  Prime  Minister  promised  that,  in  future,  no  re- 
ports concerning  officers  should  be  accepted  save 
through  hierarchic  channels.  The  Opposition,  having 
contrived  to  settle  on  the  Government  the  odium  of 
this  reprehensible  practice,  exploited  it  to  the  full. 
One  of  their  number,  the  deputy  Syveton,  once  a 
Professor  and  now  Organizing  Secretary  of  the  Patrie 


214    THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

Francaise,  rose  in  the  ardour  of  his  virtuous  indigna- 
tion and  struck  the  Minister  for  War  in  the  face 
during  a  Parliamentary  sitting.  The  gesture  savoured 
rather  of  cowardice  than  courage,  since  General  Andre 
was  a  man  old  enough  to  be  his  father ;  it  was  dictated 
by  vaulting  ambition  that  sought  a  cheap  renown ; 
and,  for  a  brief  spell,  in  his  exclusion  from  the 
Chamber,  his  duel  with  Captain  de  Gail,  his  indict- 
ment before  a  Criminal  Court,  Monsieur  Syveton  had 
all  the  notoriety  he  had  bargained  for.  He  obtained 
even  more ;  for  suddenly  the  storm  of  a  family  drama 
burst  over  his  head,  the  Nemesis  of  a  past  career  of 
vicious  licentiousness  smote  him,  and,  to  avoid  the 
disgrace  of  exposure,  he  committed  suicide  on  the  eve 
of  his  trial. 

Seeing  that  his  unpopularity  was  a  weakness  to  the 
Ministry,  General  Andre  gave  up  his  portfolio  to  the 
Socialist  stockbroker,  Monsieur  Berteaux,  leaving  be- 
hind him  at  least  one  benefit  due  to  his  administration 
— the  opportunity  afforded  to  warrant  officers  of  ob- 
taining their  commission  without  going  through  the 
schools.  This  departure  notwithstanding,  Monsieur 
Combes  failed  to  regain  his  prestige  ;  and,  after  the 
election  of  Doumer.  at  present  a  Radical  trimmer,  to 
the  chairmanship  of  the  Chamber,  he  imitated  the 
General's  example  and  passed  his  hand  to  Monsieur 
Rouvier,  just  at  the  moment  when  the  Court  instituted 
to  inquire  into  the  Anglo-Russian  Doggerbank  inci- 
dent was  about  to  meet  in  Paris. 

It  was  a  change  in  the  name  of  the  firm  only,  not  in 
the  nature  of  its  business.  The  impetus  acquired  by 
the  disestablishment  movement  was  too  great  to  be 
arrested,  even  if  Monsieur  Rouvier  had  desired  ;  and 


LOUBET    AND   FALLIERES  215 

the  Foreign  Office,  where  no  alteration  had  been  made, 
pursued  its  plan  of  strengthening  the  Dual  Alliance  by 
subsidiary  understandings  with  the  Republic's  near 
neighbours.  From  these  ententes  cordialcs,  the  con- 
queror of  1870  was  excluded,  the  question  of  Alsace- 
Lorraine  still  forming  a  barrier  to  any  real  rapproche- 
ment among  the  majority  of  the  French  nation  ;  and  to 
the  Kaiser  Wilhelm  it  seemed  that  Monsieur  Delcasse 
was  aiming  at  Germany's  isolation.  This  opinion  he 
expressed  in  his  peculiar  diplomatic  way  by  all  at  once 
putting  his  foot  down  in  Morocco,  where  at  present  a 
disturbed  state  of  things  prevailed  and  where  France 
was  preparing  to  intervene  more  actively.  According 
to  Monsieur  Delcasse,  the  intervention  was  to  be  one  of 
peaceful  penetration,  by  which  he  probably  meant  the 
ultimate  imposing  of  a  protectorate  similar  to  that 
which  had  yielded  such  good  results  in  Tunis.  The 
Emperor's  voyage  to  Tangier  and  his  dramatic  pro- 
clamation of  Moroccan  independence  were  embarrassing 
to  the  Cabinet,  and  the  more  annoying  to  the  Foreign 
Minister  as  they  appeared  to  justify  those  who,  with 
Jaures,  had  denounced  the  imprudence  of  a  military 
interference  with  Morocco  beyond  the  Algerian 
frontier. 

Compelled  now  either  to  deny  or  to  admit  Germany's 
claim  to  be  heard,  the  Government  chose  the  latter 
alternative  ;  and  negotiations  were  begun.  Irremediably 
shaken  in  his  authority,  Monsieur  Delcasse  remained  at 
the  Quai  d'Orsay  long  enough  only  for  it  not  to  look  as 
though  he  were  resigning  in  obedience  to  foreign  dicta- 
tion. For  the  rest  of  the  year,  the  Premier  carried  on 
conversation  with  the  Imperial  Chancellor,  and.  in 
accepting  the  projected  conference  at  Algeciras,  man- 


216     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

aged   to    secure   conditions   that    recognized    France's 
predominant  frontier  interests. 

In  the  acute  stages  of  the  crisis,  while  people  were 
uncertain  whether  war  would  not  break  out,  the  Re- 
public had  no  reason  to  complain  of  the  attitude  of  the 
two  Mediterranean  Powers  with  whom  she  had  pre- 
viously made  treaties  concerning  Morocco.  The  visit 
of  the  British  King  and  Queen  to  Algiers  in  April,  and 
those  of  King  Edward  and  King  Alfonso  to  Paris  in 
May  and  June,  were  rightly  interpreted  to  mean  that 
Great  Britain  and  Spain  held  to  their  pledges.  The 
Spanish  Sovereign,  during  his  stay,  had  a  disagreeable 
reminder  of  the  risks  of  a  monarch's  profession.  A 
bomb  was  thrown  at  his  carriage  as  he  was  returning 
from  a  gala  performance  at  the  Opera  along  the  Rue  de 
Rivoli,  with  happily  no  worse  effects  than  killing  a 
horse  and  slightly  injuring  three  soldiers  of  the  guard, 
and  two  or  three  pedestrians.  Some  arrests  of 
anarchist  suspects  were  made ;  but  the  real  criminal, 
a  Barcelona  Spaniard  named  Nona,  escaped.  Alfonso's 
coolness  on  the  occasion  increased  his  popularity  with 
the  Parisians,  who  had  already  been  drawn  to  him  by 
his  unfeigned  geniality  and  his  enthusiasm  over  what  he 
saw.  It  was  no  mere  compliment  Monsieur  Loubet 
paid  him  when  he  said  in  his  toast  at  the  Elysee : 
'  You  have  twice  conquered  France,  first  by  your 
charm,  and  next  by  your  courage.' 

After  the  Franco-German  compromise,  the  tension 
caused  by  the  Moroccan  incident  lessened  ;  and  the 
latter  half  of  the  year  exhibited  a  brighter  outlook. 
Japan  and  Russia  had,  at  last,  signed  peace,  so  that 
relief  was  afforded  to  the  numerous  French  bond- 
holders whose  money  was  invested  in  Russian  stock. 


LOUBET   AND   FALLIERES  217 

Moreover,  public  confidence  was  greatly  restored  by 
the  fraternizing  of  British  and  French  fleets  at  Brest 
and  at  Cowes,  while  their  officers  obtained  a  pleasant 
variation  of  their  life  on  board  in  fetes  at  head-quarters 
on  either  side  the  Channel.  Truth  to  tell,  during  the 
preceding  decade,  the  French  Navy  had  come  to  cut  a 
very  respectable  figure  even  beside  that  of  the  puissant 
ruler  of  the  seas.  In  submarines,  especially,  progress 
had  been  rapid,  though  the  disaster  of  the  Farfadet, 
which,  in  July,  sank  off'  Bizerta  with  all  its  crew, 
proved  that,  for  the  latest  naval  invention  to  become  a 
reliable  instrument  of  war,  there  was  yet  much  to  be 
learnt. 

In  home  politics,  throughout  the  year,  the  coalition 
of  the  Lefts,  constituting  the  block,  still  triumphed  ; 
and  put  on  the  Statute  Book,  together  with  the  Dis- 
establishment Act,  and  the  two  years'  military  service, 
a  law  assuring  Sunday  rest  to  the  vast  body  of  toilers, 
who  hitherto  had  been  accustomed  to  labour  seven  days 
in  each  week.  The  generalizing  of  Old  Age  pensions, 
which  was  also  carried  through  Parliament,  was  some- 
what of  a  leap  in  the  dark.  In  addition  to  its 
threatening  the  Mutual  Help  organizations,  which, 
during  the  period  of  the  Republic,  had  done  such 
splendid  work,  it  laid  a  burden  upon  the  country's  re- 
sources that  not  a  few  economists  judged  insupport- 
able. On  like  grounds,  the  Inland  Penny  Postage 
Bill  met  with  vigorous  opposition,  which,  however, 
failed  ;  and  France  put  herself  once  more  into  line 
with  other  countries  by  coming  back  to  the  system 
that  prevailed  before  the  war. 

In  spite  of  sporadic  resistance  to  the  placing  of  the 
Church  fabrics  in  the  possession  of  the  State,  and  to 


218     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

the  consequent  inventorying  of  their  belongings,  Mon- 
sieur Loubet's  Septennat  closed  under  circumstances 
that  contrasted  happily  with  its  outset.  In  October, 
he  undertook  a  final  Presidential  trip  to  Spain  and 
Portugal.  Among  the  chiefs  of  the  Republic,  he 
headed  the  list  both  for  the  number  of  his  journeys 
abroad  and  their  extent,  travelling  more  than  fifteen 
thousand  kilometres,  almost  as  many  as  King  Edward 
in  the  same  space  of  time,  yet  far  outdistanced  by  the 
ubiquitous  Kaiser  with  his  forty-two  thousand.  Co- 
operating thus,  unostentatiously  but  intelligently,  in 
the  new  diplomacy  of  international  accord,  he  had 
also  contributed  very  materially  to  the  healing  of  the 
nation's  divisions  and  quarrels  over  the  Dreyfus  affair ; 
and,  by  showing  himself  generous  to  men  whose 
attacks  on  himself  were  a  supreme  convulsive  revolt 
against  the  Republic,  he  disarmed  them  and  rendered 
them  inoffensive.  When,  in  November,  Deroulede 
returned  from  banishment,  this  once  roaring  lion  was 
as  mild  as  a  lamb.  During  the  plebiscitary  apostle's 
absence,  the  march  of  events  had  carried  the  country 
far  beyond  the  issues  that  used  to  excite  the  Patriots' 
League  and  the  Nationalists  of  the  Patrie  Francaise. 
Audiffret-Pasquier,  the  last  of  the  three  Dukes  who 
were  thorns  in  Thiers'  side,  was  dead ;  in  the  up-to- 
date  political  arena,  Socialism  was  the  great  invading 
fact,  and  to  set  the  people  against  it  required  argument, 
not  riot. 

Monsieur  Loubet  was  wise  in  contenting  himself 
with  his  rounded  achievement  and  in  standing  aside 
at  the  Congress  which  assembled  in  January  1906. 
This  date  opens  a  new  epoch  in  the  history  of  France, 
an  epoch  wherein  the  question  of  the  State  versus  the 


LOUBET   AND   FALLIERES  219 

Individual  is  to  be  fought  out  at  close  quarters,  and 
old  parties  must  be  regrouped  with  sole  reference  to 
these  two  contrary  conceptions  of  society. 


Emile  Loubet's  successor  at  the  Elysee  was  Clement- 
Armand  Fallieres,  who,  since  1899,  had  been  Chairman 
of  the  Senate,  succeeding  Monsieur  Loubet  also  in  that 
post.  In  the  two  men's  origins  and  lives  there  were 
other  analogies.  The  new  President,  like  the  old,  was 
the  son  of  a  well-to-do  agriculturist.  Born  at  Mezin, 
in  the  Lot-et-Garonne  Department,  in  the  year  1841, 
he  too  had  studied  law,  and  practised  as  a  barrister  at 
Nerac,  where  he  acted  as  Mayor  until  Thiers'  fall,  and 
was  subsequently  elected  for  the  Nerac  arrondissement 
in  1876,  sitting  in  the  Chamber  with  the  Republican 
Lefts.  An  excellent  speaker  and  a  talented  juris- 
consult, he  was  soon  given  a  portfolio ;  and,  between 
1882  and  1899,  was  seven  times  in  the  Cabinet,  once  as 
Premier.  His  1887  ministry  brought  him  into  conflict 
with  the  Paris  Municipal  Council,  whose  project  of 
uniting  all  the  communes  in  France  into  a  federation, 
on  the  occasion  of  the  centenary  of  1789,  he  opposed 
and  thwarted.  His  action  in  the  Gouthe-Soulard  inci- 
dent of  1890  has  been  spoken  of  in  a  preceding  chapter. 
Later,  in  his  capacity  as  Chairman  of  the  Senate,  he 
had  to  preside  over  the  High  Court  of  justice  which 
judged  the  Nationalists,  Royalists  and  Anti-Semites 
accused  of  plotting  against  the  State.  During  all  his 
Parliamentary  career,  Monsieur  Fallieres  showed  him- 
self a  good  all-round  man ;  like  Monsieur  Loubet, 
shrewd  and  practical,  rather  than  brilliant ;  on  the 
other  hand,  a  trifle  less  genial  perhaps,  but  somewhat 


220    THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

more  forceful.  His  competitor  in  the  Presidential 
Election  was  Monsieur  Paul  Doumer,  the  Chairman  of 
the  Lower  Chamber,  a  younger  man,  of  great  ambition 
but  much  less  worth,  who  for  some  time  had  been 
endeavouring  to  conciliate  every  possible  vote,  luckily 
without  obtaining  his  wish. 

The  Rouvier  Ministry  resigned  a  month  after  the 
change  of  Presidents,  and  a  Cabinet  formed  by  Mon- 
sieur Sarrien,  with  Clemenceau  at  the  Interior,  as  its 
leading  spirit,  took  its  place.  The  General  Elections 
in  May  gave  a  substantial  majority  to  the  Government, 
three  hundred  and  eighty-four  Republicans  being 
returned  against  one  hundred  and  ninety-seven  of  the 
Opposition,  all  told.  This  result  meant  a  home  policy 
directed  in  accordance  with  Radical  -  Socialist  aims. 
At  the  first,  Monsieur  Clemenceau  had  his  hands  full, 
owing  to  serious  rioting  in  the  Lens  coal  district,  where 
the  miners  were  on  strike ;  an  equally  grave  condition 
of  things  prevailed  in  Paris  and  its  suburbs,  where  a 
strike  in  the  building  trade,  accompanied  with  attempts 
at  wrecking  property,  caused  the  capital  for  some 
weeks  to  look  as  if  it  were  under  martial  law,  military 
patrols  being  stationed  in  every  quarter.  Energetic 
measures  gradually  removed  these  troubles ;  and  a 
little  wise  delay  and  ruse  in  the  matter  of  the  ecclesias- 
tic inventories  overcame  the  resistance  of  the  more 
bellicose  cures  and  their  nondescript  defenders.  The 
long-awaited  pronouncement  of  the  Court  of  Cassation 
in  the  Dreyfus  case  was  made  in  the  early  summer ; 
and  its  immediate  effect  was  to  reinstate  the  acquitted 
officer  in  the  army,  with  a  promotion  to  Major's 
rank.  On  Colonel  Picquart,  who  for  seven  years  had 
occupied  his  enforced  leisure  in  studying  strategy  and 


LOUBET   AND    FALLIERES  221 

foreign  languages,  the  well-deserved  grade  of  Brigadier- 
General  was  bestowed.  Three  months  later,  when 
Clemenceau  became  Prime  Minister,  after  Monsieur 
Sarrien's  retirement  through  ill-health,  he  accepted  a 
seat  in  the  Cabinet  as  Minister  for  War,  and  was  raised 
to  the  rank  of  General  of  Division.  Not  often  does 
the  Nemesis  of  Justice  manifest  itself  in  so  striking  a 
manner. 

It  was  a  daring  step  for  Clemenceau  to  take,  yet 
characteristic  of  the  man,  who  combines  great  inde- 
pendence of  thought  and  keen  judgment  with  bold  and 
rapid  execution.  And  these  qualities,  which  made 
him  so  redoubtable  in  opposition,  have  given  him  a 
large  share  of  success  in  office,  where  he  still  maintains 
himself  after  two  years  spent  chiefly  in  liquidating 
affairs  left  unsettled  by  previous  Cabinets.  One  was 
the  question  of  the  Church  fabrics,  which,  through  the 
Pope's  refusal  to  sanction  the  forming  of  Cultual 
Associations,  risked  being  turned  to  secular  uses.  A 
compromise  was  effected  after  a  good  deal  of  skirmish- 
ing, and  the  cures  were  allowed  to  remain  in  tenant 
possession  of  their  churches,  with  pensions  for  all 
whose  ordination  was  not  subsequent  to  the  Disestab- 
lishment. The  Moroccan  question  was  even  a  more 
delicate  one  than  the  foregoing ;  the  continuance  of 
civil  war  in  the  Moorish  Empire,  the  necessity  of 
military  operations  against  tribes  pillaging  on  the 
Algerian  frontier,  the  nervousness  and  distrust  of  the 
German  Press — these  things  rendered  it  difficult  to 
steer  a  clear  course.  Both  Prime  Minister  and  Foreign 
Minister — the  latter  being  Monsieur  Pichon — have  so 
far  managed,  while  keeping  within  the  limits  prescribed 
by  the  Conference  of  Algeciras,  to  be  consistent  in 


222     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

their  conduct,  yielding  neither  to  the  eager  impatience 
of  certain  newspapers  on  this  side  of  the  frontier,  nor 
to  the  irritation  of  certain  others  across  it.  The  result 
has  been  a  compromise  also,  by  which  at  least  French 
dignity  has  been  preserved. 

The  third  question  pending  was  and  is  the  Income 
Tax  Bill,  the  principle  of  which  was  voted  by  the 
Lower  Chamber  before  the  close  of  the  1908  summer 
session,  albeit  without  enthusiasm.  Nominally  intended 
as  a  reform  of  the  present  system  of  direct  taxation 
— which  bears  lightly  on  the  petite  bourgeoisie — it  is 
really  an  additional  burden  laid  on  the  country,  and  is 
feared  both  for  that  reason  and  on  account  of  the  in- 
evitable annoyances  and  practical  injustices  it  will 
entail.  But  the  Government  wants  money  ;  the  old 
'  contributions '  have  yielded  all  they  can.  Like  the 
rest  of  Europe,  France  is  suffering  from  her  enormous 
war  expenditure,  which,  as  well  as  the  Socialist  pro- 
gramme, casts  a  shadow  over  the  morrow. 


IX 

LITERATURE,   SCIENCE,   AND    ART 
IN   THE    SEVENTIES 

Some  few  of  the  men  of  letters  who  had  given  lustre 
to  the  Empire  passed  away  with  it.  Victor  Cousin, 
the  philosopher  and  orator,  and  Baudelaire,  the  poet, 
died  in  1867 ;  Lamartine  and  Sainte-Beuve  in  1869  ; 
Prevost-Paradol,  a  brilliant  journalist,  the  elder  Dumas, 
and  Prosper  Merimee  in  1870.  To  the  elders  that  sur- 
vived, the  war  was  an  earthquake  that  shook  their  most 
cherished  convictions  and  for  a  while  paralysed  their 
action.  Victor  Hugo  was  perhaps  the  only  one  among 
them  to  whom  the  catastrophe  was  not  a  surprise.  On 
his  lonely  Jersey  rock  or  in  Brussels  he  had  waited 
nearly  twenty  years  for  his  enemy  to  fall,  and,  though 
not  desiring,  had  foreseen  the  nation's  humiliation. 
His  work  as  creator  of  the  Romantic  School  with  its 
lyricism  was  terminated  long  since ;  when  he  returned 
from  exile,  it  was  to  receive  in  the  twilight  of  his  life 
the  pious  veneration  due  to  his  remarkable  talent  and 
vast  production,  and  to  publish,  together  with  his 
continuation  of  the  Legende  des  Siecles  and  his  Art 
d'etre  grandpere,  some  retrospective  glances  at  the 
'93  Revolution,  his  Annce  terrible,  and  his  Histoire 
dun  Crime. 

Men  like  Flaubert,  who  had  disinterested  themselves 
from  their  generation  and  made  art  for  arts  sake  their 

223 


224     THE   THIRD    FRENCH    REPUBLIC 

sole  doctrine,  were  so  rudely  awakened  from  their 
dream  that  the  reality  warped  their  reason.  The 
democracy  to  which  the  Third  Republic  had  given  its 
coudees  franches  seemed  to  them  the  worst  enemy  of 
all.  '  The  first  remedy  would  be  to  finish  with  uni- 
versal suffrage,'  cries  the  author  of  Madame  B ovary ; 
'  it  shames  the  human  mind.'  In  his  Temptation  of 
Saint  Antony,  which  came  out  in  1874,  he  still  strives 
to  get  back  into  his  ivory  tower  of  indifference,  but  it 
was  impossible.  His  later  Tales,  tender  and  sober, 
show  an  equal  endeavour  to  adapt  himself  to  new  con- 
ditions, but  this  essay  too  was  fugitive.  The  unfinished 
Bouvard  and  Pecuchet,  published  after  his  death, 
which  occurred  in  1880,  proved  by  its  devious  in- 
coherence that  he  had  irretrievably  lost  his  bearings. 

On  those  writers  who  had  not  gone  so  far  past  their 
maturity,  the  events  of  the  war  had  effects  that  varied 
with  their  temperament.  All,  however,  set  themselves 
perforce  to  reshape  their  ideas.  At  first  Renan 
imagined  that  France  had  been  conquered  by  Ger- 
many's feudalism  ;  and,  in  his  Reforms  intellectuelle  et 
morale,  which  appeared  in  the  early  seventies,  he  advo- 
cated the  remoulding  of  his  own  country  according  to 
the  same  type.  He  was  willing  to  abandon  the  people 
to  the  teaching  of  the  Catholic  Church  if  only  an  elite 
might  be  free  in  the  University  to  teach  reason  and 
duty.  Ultimately  a  fresh  absorption  in  his  historian's 
role,  which  enabled  him  in  the  same  decade  to  add 
three  volumes  on  the  Antichrist,  the  Gospels  and  the 
Christian  Church  to  his  already  written  Life  of  Jesus 
and  Lives  of  the  Apostles,  brought  him  back  his  serenity 
and  the  possibility  of  still  believing  in  the  self-suffi- 
ciency of  truth  and  morality. 


LITERATURE,   SCIENCE,  AND   ART     225 

In  Taine  the  original  tendency  to  pessimism  was 
aggravated  by  France's  misfortunes.  This  critic  and 
historian  was  Renan's  antithesis,  precise,  systematic, 
with  theories  about  facts  that  were  the  purest  dog- 
matism. Curiously  enough,  he  had  been  associated 
with  Renan  during  the  January  of  1870  in  starting  a 
French  subscription  towards  raising  a  statue  in  Berlin 
to  Hegel,  proclaiming  him  to  be  the  most  profound  of 
German  thinkers.  Professor  at  the  Ecole  des  Beaux 
Arts,  he  continued,  throughout  the  Commune,  to  come 
to  Paris  in  order  to  give  his  lectures.  The  Communist 
Government  provoked  his  unqualified  anathema,  their 
Socialism  offending  him  even  more  than  their  crime  of 
lese-patrie.  His  subsequent  stay  in  England  influenced 
him  to  the  extent  of  rendering  his  studies  more  prac- 
tical. In  1871  he  wrote  :  "  A  Frenchman  will  always 
bring  back  from  England  this  profitable  persuasion 
that  politics  are  not  a  pocket-theory  altogether  and 
completely  applicable  at  the  moment,  but  an  affair  of 
tact  in  which  one  should  proceed  only  by  delays, 
arrangements  and  compromises."  Yet,  neither  in  his 
Notes  on  England,  which  he  gave  to  the  world  in 
1872,  nor  in  his  Origines  de  la  France  contemporaine, 
at  which  he  worked  for  some  years  after,  was  he  able 
to  escape  from  the  explanation  of  men  and  things  by 
causes  reducing  both  to  mere  mechanism.  Not  even 
the  nervousness  and  colouring  of  his  style  compensate 
for  the  monotony  this  treatment  induces,  with  its  fore- 
gone conclusions  and  narrowness  of  outlook. 

With  Taine  and  Renan  ranks  P'ustel  de  Coulanges, 
whose  first  volume  on  the  political  institutions  of 
ancient  France  appeared  in  1874.  Unlike  Taine,  how- 
ever, whose  history  is  overloaded  with  psychology  and 


226     THE   THIRD   FRENCH    REPUBLIC 

sociology,  or  Renan,  who  puts  into  his  the  whole  of  his 
philosophy,  this  historical  writer  seeks  only  to  set  forth 
and  explain  the  past.  But  the  explanation  is  clear, 
animated  and  sufficient. 

Frequent  sidelights  are  thrown  on  the  post-war 
state  of  mind  by  passages  from  the  de  Goncourt 
Diary.  Full  of  topical  information  which  is  not  always 
accurate,  these  are  reminiscences  of  a  litterateur  who 
was  intimate  with  all  the  celebrities  of  his  own  day  and 
jotted  down  much  of  what  he  heard  and  saw.  In  one 
place,  referring  to  the  course  of  events  in  1870,  he 
says:  "Berthelot  continued  his  heart-breaking  revela- 
tions, at  the  end  of  which  I  cried :  '  Then  it  is  all 
finished ;  and  there  is  nothing  left  for  us  but  to  rear  a 
generation  for  vengeance.'  '  No,  no,'  exclaimed  Renan, 
who  had  risen  with  flushed  face,  '  no,  not  vengeance. 
Perish  France,  perish  the  fatherland  ;  above  them, 
there  is  the  kingdom  of  duty  and  right.' '  Renan 
admitted  the  scene,  but  contested  its  details. 

In  most  of  the  poets,  just  after  the  great  disaster, 
a  quickened  but  at  the  same  time  a  more  exclusive 
patriotism  is  manifested.  Sully  Prudhomme's  meta- 
physical and  meditative  muse  was  no  exception.  A 
short  poem  of  his,  Rcpcntir,  which  figures  in  the 
October  Revue  des  Deux  3fotides,  says  : — 

Je  m'ecriais  avec  Schiller  : 

'  Je  suis  un  citoyen  du  monde,' 

'  En  tous  lieux  ou  la  vie  abonde ' 

'  Le  sol  m'est  doux  et  l'homme  cher.' 

Mon  compatriote,  e'est  l'homme 
Naguere  ainsi  je  dispersais 
Sur  l'univers  ce  cceur  francais, 
J'en  suis  maintenant  econome, 


LITERATURE,   SCIENCE,   AND   ART     227 

Ces  tendresses,  je  les  ramene 
Etroitement  sur  mon  pays, 
Sur  les  hommes  que  j'ai  trahis, 
En  amour  de  l'espece  humaine. 

The  same  emphasis  is  found  in  Theodore  de  Banville's 
Idijlles  Prussiennes  and  Eugene  Manuel's  Pendant  la 
guerre,  which  belong  to  the  first  half  of  the  '70 
decade.  The  former  writer  was  one  of  the  vanishing 
Romanticists,  from  whom  the  fire  of  the  Romantic 
movement  had  departed,  but  who  had  still  a  semblance 
of  it  in  his  jingling  rhyme  and  sparkle  of  expression ; 
the  latter  was  a  predecessor  in  those  familiar,  homely- 
subjects,  a  trifle  idealized,  which  Francois  Coppee  made 
so  peculiarly  his  own,  doing  in  verse  what  George 
Sand,  now  near  her  death,  had  done  with  greater  art  in 
her  Mare  au  Diable  and  Petite  Fadettc.  Coppee,  whose 
Passant  in  1869  had  given  Sarah  Bernhardt  an  oppor- 
tunity of  scoring  her  first  success  as  an  actress,  reached 
high- water  mark  in  his  Humbles,  published  in  1872. 
He  was  never  a  great  poet,  his  verse  having  but  little 
music  and  differing  hardly  from  prose  in  the  mass. 
Here  and  there,  however,  he  managed  by  dint  of  pathos 
to  lend  a  certain  charm  and  beauty  to  his  lines.  Some 
other  poems  of  his,  written  in  the  seventies,  are  the 
Cahier  Rouge  and  his  Naufrage. 

Historians  by  profession  had  yet  had  no  leisure  to 
deal  critically  with  recent  events ;  but  there  were 
several  who  had  been  actively  mixed  up  in  them  ;  and 
they  hastened  to  set  down  their  experiences.  Thus, 
Jules  Favre  brought  out  his  Histoire  du  Gouvernement 
de  la  Defense  Nationale,  Halevy  his  Invasion,  and 
Francisque  Sarcey  his  Siege  de  Paris.  The  role  of  the 
first  in  the  war  has  already  been  spoken  of.     He  was 


228     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

an  orator  rather  than  a  writer,  who  had  obtained  his 
greatest  renown  in  fulminating  against  the  Mexican 
expedition.  Under  the  Republic,  he  played  a  secon- 
dary part ;  and,  except  for  one  or  two  Parliamentary 
speeches,  remained  in  the  shade  until  his  death  in  1880. 
Sarcey's  best  work  was  as  a  dramatic  critic  and  lecturer. 
His  articles  in  the  Temps,  both  original  and  witty, 
were,  through  many  years,  a  dainty  morsel  for  his 
readers.  But  he  was  a  journalist  to  begin  with  ;  and 
this  story  of  the  siege  written  with  photographic 
accuracy  and  enhanced  by  many  a  dramatic  dialogue 
is  well  worth  reading.  The  Invasion,  of  Ludovic 
Halevy  was  the  hors  cYceuvre  of  a  litterateur  who 
essayed  many  kinds  of  composition  and  excelled  in 
comedy  writing  and  operatic  librettos.  It  may  also  be 
considered  as  a  continuation  of  his  famous  Souvenirs 
of  the  Empire.  Among  the  younger  men  of  letters, 
one  of  the  most  prolific  historians  of  the  war  and  its 
sequel  was  Jules  Claretie.  He  acted  as  a  special  corre- 
spondent, and  saw  things  near  to.  His  France  envahie, 
Paris  assiege,  La  guerre  nationak,  Llristoirc  de  la 
Revolution  de  IS? 0-1,  are  an  important  share,  but  only 
a  share,  in  what  he  produced  within  a  couple  of  years 
after  the  occurrences  he  describes.  Claretie,  in  addition 
to  administering  the  Comedie  Franeaise  for  the  last 
quarter  of  a  century,  has  distinguished  himself  as  an 
agreeable  novelist  and  dramatist,  and  especially  as  a 
chatty  chronicler  in  the  Temps  during  the  same  period. 
His  journalistic  articles  alone  constitute  one  of  the 
most  valuable  documents  that  exist  for  the  literary  and 
artistic  history  of  the  Third  Republic.  More  biased 
than  the  foregoing  narrations,  but  equally  interesting, 
is  Maxime  du  Camp's  Convulsions,  a  graphic  account 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,    AND   ART     229 

of  the  Commune  by  an  eye-witness,  who  is  suspected 
of  having  acted  a  double  role  in  this  internecine 
struggle.  Henri  Martin  and  Victor  Duruy  were  older 
historians,  who  in  this  decade  concluded,  the  one  his 
History  of  France  and  the  other  his  History  of  the 
Romans. 

The  novel  took  up  the  war  as  a  theme  only  at  a 
later  date.  The  first  to  set  the  example  was  Emile 
Zola,  who  did  not  publish  his  Debacle  till  1892.  Mean- 
while, he  was  engaged  on  his  Rougon-Macquart  series, 
an  experiment  similar  to  that  made  by  Balzac  in  his 
Comedie  kumaine.  Those  completed  in  the  seventies 
were  La  Cure'e,  La  Conquete  de  Plassan,  le  Ventre  de 
Pa?is,  L Assommoir  and  Page  d } Amour.  It  is  society 
under  the  Empire  that  is  represented,  with  the  employ- 
ment of  a  method  called  by  its  exponents  naturalism. 
Zola,  the  chief  of  the  naturalists,  wished  to  make  the 
novel  a  scientific  epitome  of  life,  objective  in  its  obser- 
vation of  phenomena,  and  subjective  too,  inasmuch 
as,  according  to  his  definition,  it  was  a  slice  of  life  seen 
through  a  temperament.  His  error  was  in  fancying 
that  art  is  compelled  to  represent  everything  that 
exists  under  the  same  relief  and  magnified  to  the  same 
size.  He  confused  its  function  and  mission  with  those 
of  the  experimental  physicist  in  his  laboratory.  Thence 
his  grossness,  his  harsh  daguerreotype  outlines  filled  with 
black  shadows,  and  his  immense  heap  of  detail  lacking 
perspective.  Only  a  few  of  his  numerous  creations 
have  any  intrinsic  value  of  construction,  plot  and 
passion.  L 'Assommoir  is  one  of  them.  It  is  a  tragedy 
large  in  power  and  feeling  and  humanity.  The  moun- 
tainous importance  assigned  by  the  author  to  his  self- 
imposed  labour  seems  to  have  clouded  his  horizon  from 


230    THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

the  commencement.  De  Goncourt  notices  this  in  his 
diary.  "Here  was  Zola,"  he  says,  "with  face  all 
gloomy,  broaching  the  chapter  of  his  miseries.  It  is 
curious  how  the  confidences  of  the  young  novelist  at 
once  fell  into  melancholy  language.  He  commenced  a 
black  recital  of  his  youth,  of  the  bitterness  of  his 
everyday  life,  of  the  abuse  he  received,  the  suspicion 
he  was  held  in,  the  sort  of  quarantine  that  his  books 
were  relegated  to.  When  we  told  him  he  ought  not 
to  complain,  that  he  had  made  good  progress  for  a  man 
not  yet  thirty-five,  he  said :  '  Shall  I  tell  you  from  the 
bottom  of  my  heart  what  I  feel  ?  You  will  look  on  me 
as  a  child.  So  much  the  worse.  I  shall  never  be 
decorated ;  I  shall  never  belong  to  the  Academy ;  I 
shall  never  have  one  of  those  distinctions  that  would 
prove  my  talent.  With  the  public  I  shall  always  be  a 
pariah.'  Four  or  five  times  he  repeated  :  *  a  pariah.' ' 
In  the  main  Zola  was  right  in  his  anticipations.  His 
perpetual  candidature  to  the  Academy  became  even  a 
joke  in  later  years. 

Alphonse  Daudet  had  already  before  the  war  made 
a  name  for  himself  in  his  simple  novel,  Le  petit  chose, 
which  was  partly  biographical,  and  his  Lettres  de  mon 
moulin,  whose  alternate  humour  and  pathos  are  in  his 
best  style.  The  Contes  du  Lundi,  published  in  1873, 
was  a  sequel  to  the  Letters  ;  and  Tartan '/i  de  Tarascoii, 
which  appeared  in  1872,  was  a  comic  caricature  of  a 
southern  type  of  Frenchman,  containing  some  essential 
traits  of  character  amidst  its  mirthful  exaggerations. 
Some  of  his  best  fiction  was  written  in  the  same 
decade,  Froment  jeune  et  Risler  aine  in  1874,  Jack  in 
1876,  the  Nabob  in  1877,  and  the  Rois  en  exit  in  1879. 
Daudet.  like  Zola,  utilized  in  his  fiction  the  construction 


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LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND   ART     231 

from  notes,  which  de  Goncourt  popularized,  but  his 
material  is  much  better  transformed  in  the  crucible  of 
his  imagination.  He  is  a  naturalist,  yet  has  a  finer 
artistic  sensibility  than  the  author  of  the  Rougon- 
Macquart ;  and,  having  once  chosen  his  subject  from 
some  fact  in  real  life,  allows  no  other  preoccupation 
than  his  taste  and  judgment  to  interfere  with  his  treat- 
ment of  it.  Of  the  novels  above  mentioned,  the  first 
three,  at  least,  may  claim  to  be  masterpieces.  In  all 
four  there  is  perhaps  too  deep  a  rock-bed  of  sadness  ; 
but,  as  Daudet  remarked,  his  presentment  of  things 
was  as  he  found  them,  and  agreed  with  reality. 

A  novelist  contemporary  with  the  two  preceding, 
but  less  read  than  they,  though  of  rare  merit,  was 
Ferdinand  Fabre,  whose  Abbe  Tigrane  and  Barnabe 
came  out  in  1873  and  1875.  His  delineation  of  eccle- 
siastics and  their  surroundings  is  done  with  insight  and 
delicacy  ;  and  the  sentiment  of  nature  that  always  lies 
in  the  background  is  expressed  with  great  suggestive- 
ness.  Barbey  d'Aurevilly,  whose  Diaboliques,  in  1874, 
was  a  last  work,  belonged  to  the  earlier  Romantic 
school.  This  and  his  Pretre  marie,  his  Histoire  sans 
nom,  and  the  Ensorcelcc  deal  all  with  morbid  subjects 
strongly  drawn,  but  in  which  there  is  too  much  of  the 
disagreeably  weird. 

The  chief  dramatic  authors  whose  pieces  held  the 
stage  during  the  Presidencies  of  Thiers  and  Mac- 
Mahon  were  Dumas,  Augier,  Sardou,  Meilhac  and 
Halevy,  Pailleron,  Goudinet  and  Labiche. 

All  had  earned  their  laurels  under  the  Imperial 
regime,  and  one,  Eugene  Labiche,  was  getting  old. 
His  laughter-moving  comedies  have  since  grown  old 
too ;    but   his   good-humoured    satire   and   touches   of 


232     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

human  nature  still  please,  and  a  lesson  is  generally  to 
be  extracted  from  the  buffoonery.  His  most  popular 
plays,  such  as  La  Cagnotte  and  Le  Voyage  de  Monsieur 
Perrichon,  were  composed  in  the  time  of  the  Empire. 
In  1872  was  staged  Doit-on  le  dire,  and,  in  1876,  the 
Prix  Martin,  written  in  conjunction  with  Augier. 

Emile  Augier's  best-known  comedy,  Le  Gendre  de 
Monsieur  Poirier,  dates  back  also  to  Napoleon  III.  In 
the  seventies,  he  produced  Jean  de  Thommeraij  and 
Fourchambault .  His  drama  of  the  serious  kind  and 
directed  against  shams  and  vices,  whether  of  high  or 
low,  is  wrought  out  with  true  art,  and,  except  in  his 
poetic  pieces,  with  a  style  at  once  clear  and  elegant. 
His  characters  are,  as  a  rule,  free  from  caricature  and 
stand  out  well,  some  having  that  typical  value  which 
ensures  them  a  permanent  place  on  the  stage. 

Alexandre  Dumas,  son  of  the  celebrated  novelist, 
had  first  followed  the  Romantic  school  in  his  Dame  aux 
Camelias,  similar  in  conception  to  Victor  Hugo's 
Marion  Delorme,  before  he  turned  to  the  task  of 
remoralizing  society.  Well  and  logically  constructed, 
his  plays  abound  in  powerful  dialogue  and  run  to  their 
conclusion  with  a  swift  concurrence  of  circumstance 
that  maintains  the  attention  of  spectator  or  reader. 
In  the  later  ones,  however,  preaching  so  encroaches  on 
action  that  the  dramatis  persona?  become  more  and 
more  abstract.  This  is  particularly  so  in  the  Femme 
de  Claude,  which  was  a  complete  failure  at  the  Gym- 
nase  in  1873,  and  almost  as  much  in  the  Etrangere, 
first  performed  at  the  Theatre  Francais  in  1876.  Other 
pieces  of  his,  staged  in  the  seventies,  were  the  Visite  de 
Noces,  the  Princesse  Georges  and  Monsieur  Alphonse. 

Victorien   Sardou,  who  has  only  just  died  at  over 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND   ART     233 

eighty  years  of  age,  was  one  of  the  most  popular 
playwrights  of  the  French  stage.  He  attempted 
vaudeville,  melodrama,  comedy  and  tragedy ;  and 
rarely  failed  in  any,  owing  to  his  skill  in  flattering  the 
public  taste,  and  his  mastery  of  all  the  little  details 
that  go  to  make  up  dramatic  effect.  His  Rabagas  in 
1872,  a  satire  of  Parliamentary  customs,  was  followed 
twelve  months  later  by  ISOnclc  Sam  ;  and,  at  almost 
regular  intervals  after,  by  La  Haine,  Ferreol,  Dora 
and  Les  Bourgeois  du  Pout  cVArcij.  Compared  with 
Dumas  and  Augier,  Monsieur  Sardou  is  distinctly  in- 
ferior. His  characters  are  mostly  artificial,  and  grow 
stale  after  slight  acquaintance. 

Ludovic  Halevy  and  Henri  Meilhac  were  collabora- 
tors of  verve  in  librettos  to  operas  like  Carmen,  and 
in  comedies  of  the  lighter  kind,  Cigale,  Cigarette  and 
Madame  attend  Monsieur.  Edouard  Pailleron's  great 
success  was  the  deliberately  comic  Monde  oil  Von 
sennuie ;  and  Edmond  Goudinet  wrote  good  comedies, 
in  the  kind  of  Vieilles  Couches  and  Panaches,  which 
gained  by  a  quality  of  finely  expressed  emotion. 

In  miscellaneous  literature,  the  seventy  decade 
yielded  an  achievement  of  no  mean  worth.  Littre 
finished  his  Dictionary  of  the  French  Language,  which 
at  once  imposed  its  authority  ;  Elisee  Reclus  began 
his  Universal  Geography ;  Viollet-le-Duc  completed 
his  Dictionaries  of  the  Architecture  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
and  Pierre  Larousse  his  great  Encyclopaedia  of  the 
Nineteenth  Century.  Le  Play  wrote  the  Organization 
of  Work,  besides  republishing  his  Social  Reform,  and 
the  Organization  of  the  Family.  Montegut,  the  trans- 
lator of  Shakespeare,  and  Boutry,  the  founder  of  the 
Ecole  des  Sciences  Politiques,  were  also  in  full  labour, 


234     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

while  Cherbuliez,  under  his  pseudonym  Valbert,  was 
contributing  Chroniques  to  the  Revue  des  Deux 
Mondes. 

The  newspaper  press  of  the  first  years  after  the  war 
had  the  Temps,  the  Figaro  and  the  Journal  des  Debats 
as  the  three  leading  dailies  ;  the  first  being  the  organ  of 
the  bourgeoisie,  staid  and  grave  in  tone ;  the  second 
more  a  society,  Royalist  and  boulevard  journal ;  the 
third,  with  politics  hesitating  between  Rights  and  Left 
Centres.  All  of  them  had  illustrious  contributors. 
Jules  Ferry  wrote  in  the  Temps,  Auguste  Vitu,  Aure- 
lien  Scholl  and  Francis  Magnard  in  the  Figaro,  while 
the  Debats,  most  favoured  of  all,  had  Renan,  Taine 
and  sometimes  even  Thiers  on  its  staff.  In  those 
days,  the  Gaulois,  one  day  Royalist,  the  next  Im- 
perialist, had  not  the  stability  it  at  present  enjoys. 
There  were  times  when  it  stopped  issue,  yet  always 
contriving  to  reappear.  Two  papers,  the  Union  and 
the  Univers,  since  eclipsed,  had  then  their  public  of 
Legitimists  and  Ultramontane  Catholics.  The  latter 
was  edited  by  Louis  Veuillot,  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able pamphleteers  and  journalists  France  has  ever  pro- 
duced. An  entirely  self-made  man,  he  united  great 
culture  to  his  original  gifts,  and  devoted  both  to  the 
Catholic  cause. 

Soon,  to  the  older  dailies,  there  were  younger  com- 
petitors. Gambetta  founded  the  Republique fran^aise 
in  1871 ;  and,  in  it,  wrote  Challemel-Lacour,  Spuller, 
de  Freycinet,  Rouvier  and  others  of  the  Opportunist 
group.  Gambetta  was  the  inspirer,  not  the  pen. 
Seated  on  a  couch,  he  would  often  talk  an  article 
which  the  others  would  develop  while  he  spoke.  The 
Dix-neuvieme    Sieclc,    bought    in    the   same   year   by 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,   AND    ART     235 

Edmond  About,  and  edited  under  his  direction,  be- 
came violently  anticlerical.  About,  whose  supple 
talent  had  enlivened  the  days  of  the  Empire,  was  a 
successful  novelist,  a  poorer  playwright,  a  delightful 
talker  and  a  man  whose  intelligence  was  keen  rather 
than  deep.  Journalism  of  the  intransigent  kind  was  his 
latest  hobby.  With  him  were  Sarcey,  Emmanuel  Arene 
and  Paul  Lafargue.  And  all  did  yeoman  service  for 
the  Republic.  The  Evenejnent,  also  founded  in  1871, 
was  initially  a  sort  of  Republican  Figaro.  On  the 
Monarchist  and  Conservative  side  was  the  Franpais, 
started  by  the  friends  of  the  Due  de  Broglie  and  Mon- 
sieur Buffet ;  there  was  the  Soleil  as  well,  the  first 
halfpenny  paper  to  exist  in  France.  The  editor  of  the 
latter,  Monsieur  Edouard  Herve,  was  a  'master 
polemist,  but  courteous  in  his  sharpest  attacks.  Both 
the  Radical  and  the  Lantcrnc  came  into  circulation 
in  1877,  the  second  being  then,  as  still,  an  organ 
of  advanced  views. 

The  roman-feuilleton,  always  a  feature  of  the  French 
daily,  had  its  popular  representatives  in  the  decade, 
writers  whose  names,  though  riot  found  in  an  ordinary 
critical  history  of  literature,  were  better  known  to  the 
public  than  those  of  some  novelists  of  genius.  Ponson 
du  Terrail  died  just  as  the  Republic  was  born ;  his 
younger  contemporaries  and  immediate  successors 
were  Xavier  de  Montepin,  Adolphe  d'Ennery,  Emile 
Reichbourg,  Adolphe  Belot  and  Hector  Malot,  the 
last  having  the  honours  of  translation  into  more  than 
one  foreign  tongue. 

As  periodicals,  there  was  first  and  foremost  the 
Revue  des  Deuoc  Mondes,  then  edited  by  Buloz,  who 
died  in  1877.     It  was  moderate  in  all  things,  with  a 


236     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

reputation  for  critical  reserve  that  enabled  it  to  remain 
on  friendly  terms  with  the  Government,  the  Univer- 
sity and  the  Church,  without  being  subservient  to  any 
one  of  them.  Both  this  Revue  and  the  Correspondant, 
an  exponent  of  liberal  Catholicism,  had  existed  many 
years  before  1870.  After  the  war,  the  Orleanists 
created  the  Revue  de  France  and  made  it  their  organ. 
The  University  had  its  Revue  des  cours  politiques  et 
Utter  aires,  commenced  in  1863  by  Eugene  Yung. 
Turning  Liberal  with  the  Republic,  it  had  great 
influence  among  the  college  students,  on  account  of  its 
accurate  information  and  sound  sense.  More  technical 
were  the  Revue  scientifique,  the  Revue  historique,  the 
Revue  critique,  the  Revue  Economique,  the  Revue  philo- 
sophique,  and  some  others. 

The  illustrated  weeklies  were  not  numerous  ;  but 
they  were  brightly  written  and  attractively  got  up. 
Taine  published  in  one  of  them — the  Vie  Parisienne — 
his  satirical  Thomas  Graiudorgc.  The  Charivari,  the 
Lane,  the  Eclipse  also  noted  the  sayings  and  doings 
of  society.  Besides  these,  there  were  the  Magasin 
pittoresquc,  the  Illustration,  the  3Iondc  illustre,  and 
some  comic  papers  with  caricatures  by  Andre  Gill,  Le 
Petit,  Bertall  and  Grevin,  giving  in  those  days  an  ex- 
aggerated forelock  to  Thiers,  saucer  eyes  to  Gambetta, 
and  sparing  neither  friend  nor  foe  in  their  counterfeit 
presentment. 

In  the  domain  of  music,  the  two  oldest  composers 
alive  after  1870  were  Ambroise  Thomas  and  Charles 
Gounod.  The  former,  who  was  appointed  Director  of 
the  Conservatoire  in  1871.  when  nearly  sixty,  had,  at 
this  date,  practically  ceased  creating.  Gounod,  on  the 
contrary,  produced,  while  in  London,  his  Gallia,  Mors 


LITERATURE,   SCIENCE,  AND    ART     237 

et  Vita  and  the  Redemption.    It  was  a  happy  inspiration 
of  Saint-Saens  to  found  the  National  Society  of  Music. 
He  was  thus  able  to  group  round  himself  such  com- 
posers as  Cesar  Franck,  Lalo,  Guiraud  and  de  Castillon. 
This  nucleus  developed  under  his  leadership  and  activity 
into  a  movement  fraught  with  the  best  consequences. 
Saint-Saens  himself   has  been    a  great  musical  artist. 
His  Samson  and  Delilah,  finished  in   1877,   was  soon 
followed  by  Henry  VIII.     These  and  his  other  works 
exhibit  a  quality  of  fine  inspiration  allied  with   clear 
melody  and   ample  harmony.      Leo    Delibes,   in    the 
softly  rhythmic  notes  of  his  Sylvia,  and  Reyer,  in  the 
firmer  accents  of  his  Salammbo,  prelude  to  a  music  of 
more  complex  conception  and  execution.     Massenet, 
like  Reyer,  assimilates  Wagner.     His  Mary  Magdalene, 
Manon,  Werther  and  the  Mages  have,  however,  a  very 
personal  construction  admirably  suited  to  the  subject, 
logical  yet  with  a  background  of  mystery.     Bizet  died 
prematurely  in  1875,  the  same  year  that  his  weird  and 
captivating  Carmen  was  first  heard  on  the  stage  of  the 
Opera  Comique.     Offenbach  was  drawing  to  the  end 
of   his   career   and    life ;    but   three   of  his   operettas, 
Madame  TArehiduc,  La  Creole  and  Madame  Favart 
were  performed  between  1872  and  1878.     In  the  same 
period,  Lecocq  became  famous  with  his  Cent  Vierges, 
La  Fillc  de  Madame  Angot,  Girqfle-Girofla  and  Petit 
Due,  Planquette,  likewise,  with  his  Cloches  de  Corneville. 
The  advent  of  the  Republic  meant  a  new  lease  of 
existence  to  the  French  stage,  offering,  as  it  did,  new 
customs   and    manners   and   greater   liberty   for   their 
dramatic   representation.      Fresh   directors   were   pro- 
vided for  a  fresh  order  of  things,  Halanzy  at  the  Opera, 
who  began  with  Reyer's  Erostate,  and  Perrin  at  the 


238     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

Come'die  Franchise,  succeeding  Edouard  Thierry.  A 
number  of  auxiliary  theatres,  mostly  small  ones,  were 
opened  in  1873 ;  a  rebuilt  Porte  Saint-Martin  and  a 
rebuilt  Renaissance  rose  in  the  place  of  the  ancient 
ones ;  while  the  Opera  Comique,  the  Odeon,  the 
Gymnase,  the  Palais  Royal,  the  Ambigu  and  the  rest 
were  not  long  in  regaining  favour.  It  was  then  that 
Mounet-Sully  and  Sarah  Bernhardt  triumphed,  Aimee 
Desclee  too,  the  actress  who  created  most  of  the  roles 
of  the  younger  Dumas  and  who  was  cut  down  in  her 
prime;  it  was  then  that  Frederic  Lemaitre,  a  second 
Talma,  after  furnishing  so  much  amusement  and 
pleasure  to  his  fellows,  and  immortalizing  Robert  Ma- 
caire,  died  from  cancer  and  almost  in  poverty.  At  the 
Theatre  Francaise,  Messieurs  Delaunay,  Got,  Coquelin 
and  Regnier,  and  Mesdames  Reichemberg  and  Croizette 
were  in  their  palmy  days,  and,  at  the  Opera,  Madame 

Carvalho,  the  chef  d'orchestrc  being  Lamoureux. 

# 

In  the  commencements  of  the  Third  Republic,  the 
connecting  link  between  old  and  new  in  French 
science  was  the  celebrated  Eugene  Chevreul,  born  in 
1786,  who  lived  to  the  age  of  a  hundred  and  three, 
dying  only  in  1889.  Until  within  ten  years  of  his 
death,  he  taught  applied  chemistry  at  the  Museum  of 
the  Jardin  des  Plantes.  There  he  was  Director,  having 
succeeded  his  master  Yauquelin,  the  contemporary 
of  Lavoisier,  Lamarck,  Ampere,  Bichat  and  Geoffroi 
Saint-Hilaire,  giants  of  the  first  Revolution  epoch  in 
chemistry,  zoology,  histology  and  botany.  During  the 
time  that  he  occupied  his  professorial  chair,  generations  of 
savants  had  grown  up,  achieved  fame  and  passed  away  ; 
and  still  the  elders  of  the  seventy  decade  were  his  juniors. 


LITERATURE,   SCIENCE,  AND   ART     239 

Astronomy  could  boast  of  Le  Verrier,  who,  in  1846, 
had  discovered  the  planet  Neptune,  and  who,  three 
months  before  his  death,  in  1876,  put  the  finishing 
touch  to  his  revision  of  the  planetary  tables ;  of 
Janssen  and  Delaunay  also,  who  made  the  sun  the 
object  of  their  investigations  with  the  spectroscope. 
In  algebra  and  geometry,  Bertrand,  Hermite  and 
Puiseux  each  made  advances  on  the  ancient  Euclidian 
methods,  and  handed  on  their  improvements  to  Dar- 
boux,  whose  remarkable  treatise  on  equations  was 
crowned  by  the  Academy  of  Sciences  in  1876.  Dupuy 
de  Lome,  excelling  in  applied  mathematics,  sketched 
out  in  1872  his  plan  of  the  future  dirigible  aerostat; 
Gramme,  after  inventing,  in  1869,  the  electric  machine 
with  continuous  current,  went  on  to  study  the  trans- 
mission of  work-force  to  a  distance ;  and  Berges,  by 
means  of  a  novel  utilization  of  waterfalls — white  fuel 
he  called  them— showed  a  reserve  of  power  capable 
of  replacing  coal. 

Claude  Bernard,  Berthelot  and  Pasteur  had  already 
before  the  war  effected  some  of  their  best  work  in  the 
domains  of  physiology,  chemistry  and  microbiology ; 
but  the  field  of  research  was  large,  and  they  continued 
to  labour  in  it  with  success.  Claude  Bernard,  after 
advancing  the  knowledge  of  nearly  every  part  of  the 
human  body,  spent  the  interval  between  1870  and  his 
death  in  1878  in  composing  his  Lessons  on  the  Phe- 
nomena of  Life  common  to  Animals  and  Vegetables,  in 
which  he  swept  away  the  antagonism  supposed  pre- 
viously to  exist  between  the  two  kingdoms,  and  demon- 
strated the  common  functional  activity  animating  them. 
1  There  is  in  reality,'  he  says,  '  only  one  physics,  one 
chemistry,  one  general  mechanics,  in  which  are  com- 


240     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

prised  all  the  phenomenal  manifestations  of  nature, 
both  of  living  bodies  and  of  bodies  in  the  lump.'  At 
the  same  time,  he  took  care  to  limit  science  to  its 
proper  competence,  declaring  that  •  what  belongs 
neither  to  chemistry  nor  to  physics  nor  to  anything 
else  is  the  directing  idea  of  life.'  One  of  his  pupils 
was  Paul  Bert,  who  in  1871  was  appointed  to  the 
chair  of  physiology  at  the  Sorbonne.  Soon  the  latter's 
studies  in  barometric  pressure  as  affecting  everything 
living,  in  the  respiratory  and  sensitive  mechanism  of 
plants,  in  nitrogen  and  anaesthetics,  made  him  an 
authority  in  the  scientific  world,  with  a  reputation 
that  he  preserved  even  when  afterwards  monopolized 
by  politics  and  helping  Gambetta  to  reorganize 
University  teaching  in  France. 

Berthelot's  principal  contributions  were  to  the  syn- 
thetic branch  of  chemistry.  It  was  his  reconstitution 
of  elements  under  a  fuller  science  of  their  properties 
which  allowed  him  to  manufacture  acetylene  by  a 
union  of  carbon  and  hydrogen  through  the  action  of 
the  voltaic  arc.  His  law  of  thermochemistry  results 
from  the  fact  that,  when  several  bodies  are  in  presence, 
a  compound  is  formed  corresponding  to  the  greatest 
quantity  of  heat  developed.  With  him  were  other 
men  experimenting  in  the  same  direction,  J.  B.  Dumas 
with  his  theory  of  vibrations,  Sainte-Claire  Deville 
and  Debray,  who  made  the  dissociation  of  atoms  their 
object,  Gaudin,  striving  to  detect  the  architecture  of 
atoms,  and  Wurtz,  who  introduced  into  France  the 
German  atomic  theory. 

As  for  Pasteur,  his  starting-point  was  the  perception 
of  dissymmetry  both  in  the  form  and  molecular  com- 
position of  things  organic  and  inorganic.     From  this 


PASTEUR 

From  a  Photograph  by  PIERRE    PETIT 


LITERATURE,   SCIENCE,  AND   ART     241 

basis  he  proceeded  by  patient  inquiry  into  the  causes 
and  operation  of  dissymmetry  to  results  that  enabled 
him  to  renovate  the  methods  of  surgery  and  medicine. 
In  1874,  Sir  Joseph  Lister  wrote  to  him  :  '  You  have 
proved  to  me  by  your  brilliant  researches  the  truth  of 
the  theory  of  putrefaction  through  germs,  and  have 
thus  given  me  the  only  principle  that  can  produce  a 
good  system  of  antisepsy.'  Numerous  were  the  practi- 
cal uses  to  which  this  science  was  put — the  curing  of 
diseases  in  silkworms  and  of  cholera  in  fowls,  the 
treatment  of  yeasts  and  ferments,  the  prevention  of 
mortality  in  hospitals  and  army  ambulances.  His  more 
special  studies  in  bacteriology  gathered  round  him  a 
school  of  collaborators  who  since  have  carried  on  their 
experiments  in  conjunction  with  vivisection,  a  less 
legitimate  development  unjustified  and  unjustifiable. 
Pasteur  was  subject  to  fits  of  absent-mindedness 
almost  equal  to  those  of  Newton  or  Edison.  An 
anecdote  relates  that  one  day  at  dessert  while  discours- 
ing on  his  favourite  topic  he  unthinkingly  took  up  a 
glass  of  water,  in  which  he  had  dipped  his  cherries  to 
rid  them  of  their  microbian  impurities,  and  drained  it 
to  the  dregs. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  seventies,  two  important 
books  on  anthropology  were  published  by  Paul  Broca, 
who  had  founded  the  French  Anthropological  Society 
in  1859 — the  year  in  which  Darwin  gave  to  the  world 
his  0?igin  of  the  Species.  Milne-Edwards  was  still 
Director  of  the  Museum  of  Natural  History,  and  there, 
with  Coste  and  Gerber,  veterans  like  himself,  spent  his 
days  in  poring  over  the  secrets  of  rudimentary  life- 
cells.  At  the  Salpetriere  Hospital,  a  great  doctor,  Jean 
Charcot,  was  devoting  himself  to  the  creation  of  a  new 

Q 


242     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

treatment  of  nervous  disease,  and  laid  the  foundations 
of  hypnotic  therapeutics,  to-day  practised  by  a  respect- 
able number  of  eminent  medical  men. 

In  mental  and  moral  science,  two  of  its  foremost 
representatives,  Ravaisson  and  Renouvier,  were  opposed 
to  Littre  and  Taine — and  even  to  Renan.  The  former 
in  his  Philosopliic  du  dix-ncuvieme  Steele  subordinated 
the  idea  of  substance  to  spirit,  the  latter  favoured 
Kant's  categoric  imperative.  Lachelier,  a  younger 
contemporary,  who  taught  at  the  Ecole  Normale  from 
1864  to  1876,  strove  to  establish  the  claims  of  intuition 
amid  the  mechanism,  organism  and  moral  activity  of 
life  ;  and  Fouillee,  in  his  doctor's  thesis  at  the  Sorbonne 
in  1872,  united  mechanism  and  spiritualism  in  his 
notion  of  idea-forces.  '  The  ideal,'  he  taught,  '  is  only 
the  deeper  sense  and  anticipation  of  future  reality.' 

Political  economy  had  its  distinguished  exponents  in 
the  seventies.  Chevalier,  Le  Play,  Leon  Say,  Leroy- 
Beaulieu  were  some  of  the  best  known.  The  tendency 
of  most  was  towards  the  freedom  of  competition  in 
trade ;  Le  Play,  however,  inclined  to  a  more  restricted 
economical  organization. 


T>' 


As  in  letters  so  in  art,  Romanticism  had  run  its 
course  before  the  advent  of  the  Third  Republic.  The 
painters  Delacroix,  Ary  Scheffer,  Horace  Vernet, 
Delaroche  and  Ingres,  who  had  been  its  greatest  re- 
presentatives, were  all  dead ;  Decamps  also,  with  his 
added  Oriental  colouring.  Corot,  Diaz,  Millet,  Fro- 
mentin,  Gustave  Courbet,  Daubigny,  Dupre,  and 
Francais  were  the  real  elders  that  remained.  The  first 
six  of  these  died  in  the  seventies,  the  last  two  towards 
the  end  of  the  century.     All  were  connected  more  or 


LITERATURE,   SCIENCE,  AND   ART     243 

less  with  the  so-called  Barbizon  school  of  landscape 
artists,  except  Fromentin,  whose  preferences  were  for 
Oriental  subjects.  It  took  time  for  their  faithful  and 
unostentatious  rendering  of  familiar  scenes  in  sober 
colours,  yet  finely  harmonized,  to  conquer  the  public 
taste.  Millet's  '  Angelus '  was  sold  in  1860  for  the 
small  sum  of  eight  hundred  -francs ;  in  1889  Monsieur 
Chauchard  purchased  it  for  six  hundred  thousand. 
The  day's  task  was  ended  for  most  of  them  when  the 
war  scattered  the  busy  world  of  art  to  the  four  winds. 
Yet  in  one  or  two  of  the  early  Salons  after  1870,  Dau- 
bigny's  '  Verger '  and  Francais'  '  Ruisseau  du  puits  noir ' 
could  be  seen. 

Not  so  old,  but  still  an  elder,  was  Rosa  Bonheur,  the 
inheritor  of  Troyon's  talent  in  animal  painting.  Her 
most  celebrated  pictures,  '  The  Labourage  Nivernais  ' 
and  '  The  Horse  Market,'  had  been  long  finished  and 
sold ;  but  at  By,  near  Fontainebleau,  she  went  on 
creating  masterpieces  for  nearly  another  thirty  years. 

Meissonier  served  in  the  National  Guard  during  the 
siege  of  Paris.  When  peace  was  signed,  he  resumed 
his  palette  and  continued  his  series  of  paintings,  inspired 
by  the  Dutch  masters,  in  which  almost  microscopic 
exactness  of  detail,  with  a  uniform  colouring  of  greyish 
tones,  constituted  his  excellence.  One  of  his  pro- 
ductions in  the  seventy  decade  was  a  portrait  of 
Alexandre  Dumas  the  Younger. 

The  Impressionist  school  in  its  complete  develop- 
ment flourished  rather  in  the  eighties  and  nineties  ;  but 
its  true  initiator  was  Henri  Regnault,  who,  as  already 
stated,  was  killed  at  Buzenval  in  the  final  stage  of  the 
war.  His  '  Marechal  Prim '  was  a  prophecy  of  what  he 
would  have  been  able  to  do,  had  he  lived.     It  was 


244     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

Gu stave  Courbet,  Manet,  Claude  Monet,  Pissarro  who 
carried  out  the  ideas  he  expressed  in  germ,  which 
Eugene  Fromentin's  book  on  the  Dutch  and  Flemish 
schools  showed  to  be  less  a  new  doctrine  than  a  new 
application  of  an  old  one. 

Among  the  official  artists  illustrating  history  or 
chosen  for  decorative  work  in  the  seventies,  figured 
Puvis  de  Chavannes,  Paul  Baudry,  Cabanel,  Jean-Paul 
Laurens  and  Harpignies.  The  first  three  contributed 
to  the  adorning  of  the  interior  of  the  Pantheon,  Cabanel, 
with  his  '  Saint  Louis,'  Baudry,  with  his  '  Maid  of 
Orleans,'  and  Puvis  de  Chavannes,  with  his  '  Scenes 
from  the  Life  of  Sainte  Genevieve.'  At  the  Salons, 
Cabanel  also  exhibited  his  '  Death  of  Frances  and 
Paolo  '  and  '  Tarquin  and  Lucrece,'  Puvis  de  Chavannes 
his  '  Summer ' ;  while  Baudry  embellished  the  walls  of 
the  new  Opera  foyer  with  a  number  of  conventional 
Greek  and  scriptural  subjects,  and  Harpignies  added  in 
the  same  building  his  panel  representing  the  Valley  of 
Egeria.  Jean- Paul  Laurens'  '  Francis  de  Borgia  before 
the  Coffin  of  Isabella  of  Portugal '  and  his  '  Austrian 
Staff  before  the  Body  of  Marceau  '  were  followed  by  the 
more  famous  '  Deliverance  of  the  besieged  inhabitants 
of  Carcassone,'  now  in  the  Luxembourg.  Subsequently, 
he  took  up  the  legend  of  Sainte  Genevieve  in  the 
Pantheon,  and  engaged  on  his  designs  for  the  '  Recits 
des  temps  merovingiens '  of  Augustin  Thierry. 
Alphonse  de  Neuville,  who  also  affected  large 
canvases,  painted  mostly  military  episodes.  His 
'  Dernieres  Cartouches  '  and  '  Surprise  aux  environs  de 
Metz"  were  scenes  from  the  war  of  1870.  Later  he 
produced  with  Edouard  Detaille.  the  '  Panorama  de  la 
bataille  de  Champigny.'     Detaille  was  only  just  at  the 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE.  AND   ART     245 

outset  of  his  career  as  a  painter  of  war.  He  began  in 
1872  with  '  The  Victors,'  a  picture  refused  out  of 
prudence  by  the  Salon  Committee,  but  none  the  less 
medalled.  His  '  Salut  aux  blesses,'  soon  after,  was 
hung.  The  greatest  of  the  foregoing  is  Puvis  de 
Chavannes,  both  for  the  originality  of  his  design  and 
his  play  of  colour.  Not  always  equal  to  himself,  he  yet 
possessed  an  intuitive  perception  of  the  beauty  of  things 
and  a  faculty  of  presenting  it  pictorially  that  transcends 
the  more  showy  workmanship  of  men  whose  popular 
fame  he  did  not  attain. 

Bastien  Lepage,  whose  statue  by  Rodin  now  stands 
in  his  native  Damvilliers,  exhibited  in  the  period  his 
celebrated  '  Hay,'  which  went  to  the  Luxembourg,  and 
a  portrait  of  Sarah  Bernhardt  as  well.  Dying  young 
in  the  eighties,  he  left  behind  him  several  charming 
evocations  of"  country  life — the  k  Song  of  Spring '  the 

•  Flower  Girl '  and  the  '  Handy  Man,'  the  portrait,  too, 
of  the  then  Prince  of  Wales,  painted  while  he  was  in 
England.  Jules  Breton,  another  landscape  artist,  was 
older  than  Lepage  both  in  years  and  style.  In  his 
k  Fontaine '  and  the  '  Feu  de  Saint  Jean,'  as  in  his  later 

•  Lavandiere,'  there  is  even  a  touch  of  romance. 
Edmond  Yon  with  his  *  Banks  of  the  Marne,'  and 
Marchal  with  his  '  Eventide,'  bathed  in  light  and  giving 
the  illusion  of  earth's  fragrance,  were  each  artists  of 
individual  talent.  Marchal's  art,  alas  !  brought  him  no 
fortune.  Disappointed  and  poor,  he  at  last  committed 
suicide.  By  a  curious  coincidence,  he  had  a  striking 
resemblance  to  the  famous  seventeenth-century  painter, 
Claude  Lorrain,  and  served  Rodin  as  a  model  for  the 
statue  that  the  sculptor  was  modelling  of  Claude  in 
the  eighties. 


246     THE   THIRD    FRENCH    REPUBLIC 

Two  specialists  in  portraiture,  Bonnat  and  Carolus 
Duran,  were,  at  this  time,  cultivating  their  style  of 
extreme  finish  and  photographic  accuracy  which  has 
become  a  mannerism.  The  portraits  of  Thiers  and 
Victor  Hugo  by  Bonnat  were  produced  early  in  the 
decade,  Duran 's  k  Emile  de  Girardin '  also.  Dubufe, 
who  once  or  twice  collaborated  with  Rosa  Bonheur, 
painted  the  likeness  of  Emile  Augier,  while  Manet 
was  executing  his  impressionist  interpretation  of  the 
human  body,  in  canvases  which  the  Salon  was  not 
always  willing  to  accept.  One  of  his  portraits  which 
had  the  honour  of  refusal  was  that  of  Desboutin.  It 
appeared  at  a  posthumous  exposition  of  his  works  at 
the  Beaux  Arts,  and  again  at  the  Centennial  Exhibi- 
tion of  1889. 

Benjamin  Constant  had  not  yet  devoted  himself 
more  especially  to  portraiture.  Better  known  at  this 
date  as  an  Oriental  painter,  he  exhibited  a  '  Moroccan 
Harem.'  It  was  a  phase  in  his  evolution,  which  com- 
prised also  a  sojourn  in  the  decorative  style.  Henner 
was  just  now  in  the  height  of  his  vogue,  his  forte  being 
the  idealized  female  form  in  peculiarly  ambered  flesh- 
tints  on  equally  peculiar  bluish-hued  backgrounds. 
His  '  Naiad,'  '  Magdalene  '  and  '  Dead  Christ '  were 
some  of  his  contributions  to  the  decade. 

Besides  these,  a  number  of  other  talents  had  their 
admirers — -Tony -Robert  Fleury,  Jules  Lefebre,  Duez, 
Luminais,  Flameng,  Bouguereau  and  Aime  Morot. 
Gleyre,  too,  may  be  mentioned,  since  Whistler  for  a 
while  studied  under  him.  Gustave  Moreau  was  a 
painter  apart  in  the  seventies,  skilled  in  putting  on  the 
canvas  his  weird  dreams,  with  a  subtleness  of  model- 
ling and  dramatic  colouring  that  was  phantasmagorical 


LITERATURE,   SCIENCE,  AND   ART     247 

in  the  effect.  Huysmans  described  him  in  1880  as  an 
extraordinary  artist  shut  up  in  the  heart  of  Paris  in  a 
cell  where  none  of  the  noise  of  the  outside  hum  could 
penetrate,  lost  in  his  ecstasy  of  fairy  visions  and  san- 
guinary apotheoses  of  bygone  ages.  He  became  popu- 
lar and  a  persona  grata  with  the  Academy  later  in  the 
century  ;  but  the  mysterious  atmosphere  of  his  claus- 
tration  remains  in  the  museum  which  to-day  contains 
his  collected  work. 

Of  the  engravers,  Bracquemond  was  one  of  the  most 
talented,  and  reproduced  in  wonderful  etchings  many 
a  masterpiece  of  both  French  and  English  painters. 
Towards  the  end  of  the  decade  he  made  the  acquaint- 
ance of  Rodin  and  helped  to  advance  the  great  sculp- 
tor's interests  in  the  French  world  of  art.  The 
caricaturist,  Andre  Gill,  has  already  been  spoken  of. 
He  and  Daumier  were  the  worthy  carriers-on  of  the 
tradition  previously  upheld  by  Gavarni.  Gill's  por- 
traits-charges of  the  celebrities  of  the  Septennal  period 
are  documents  of  the  highest  interest.  Unfortunately, 
his  madness  and  death  at  forty-five  cut  short  a  life  of 
fair  augury. 

In  sculpture,  the  older  masters  of  the  decade  were 
Carpeaux,  Guillaume,  Paul  Dubois,  Fremiet,  Carrier- 
Belleuse  and  Barye.  The  first  and  last  of  these  died 
in  1875.  Barye  connects  the  Third  Republic  with  that 
of  the  Great  Revolution ;  he  was  born  in  1796.  The 
finest  animal  sculptor  of  his  time,  he  was  underesti- 
mated during  his  life,  and  died  poor.  His  '  Lion  and 
the  Serpent,' '  Theseus  and  the  Minotaur,'  'The  Centaur' 
and  a  number  of  masterpieces  besides,  belong  to  the 
July  Monarchy  and  Third  Empire  epochs.  Nearly  all 
Carpeaux'  work  was  executed  before  the  war.     Unlike 


248     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

Barye,  he  died  in  the  heyday  of  his  energy,  bequeathing 
to  posterity  such  creations  as  'Ugolino,'  his  'Allegory  of 
the  Globe,'  the  group  known  as  '  The  Dance '  on  the 
peristyle  of  the  new  Opera,  and  busts,  among  which  is 
an  admirable  one  of  Gounod.  Just  as  Rude,  his  pre- 
decessor in  genius,  Carpeaux  was  a  disdainer  of  facile 
smoothness  in  statuary,  and  aimed  at  the  more  difficult 
representation  of  movement  and  characteristic  ex- 
pression. Neither  Fremiet  nor  Guillaume  can  be 
considered  as  more  than  respectable  handicraftsmen. 
The  poncif  is  too  largely  writ  on  their  production. 
The  latter's  '  Archbishop  Darboy,'  one  of  the  hostages 
shot  by  the  Communists,  and  the  former's  'Joan  of  Arc' 
on  horseback  now  standing  on  the  Place  des  Pyramides 
are  among  the  best  specimens  of  their  style.  Paul 
Dubois,  a  descendant  of  the  celebrated  sculptor  Pigalle, 
was  no  unworthy  scion  of  the  old  stock.  His  '  Florentine 
Singer,'  in  the  seventies,  had  much  in  it  of  the  Italian 
Renaissance  quality,  and  his  later  bust  of  Pasteur  is 
deservedly  praised.  Carrier-Belleuse,  an  exceedingly 
clever  artist,  cared  more  for  the  commercial  than  the 
ideal  side  of  his  profession.  His  lightness,  grace,  and 
elegant  finish,  a  la  Clodion,  caused  his  statues  and  busts 
to  be  eagerly  sought  after.  Delacroix,  Gustave  Dore, 
Theophile  Gautier  and  Renan,  had  their  portraits 
modelled  by  him.  One  of  Thiers  was  shown  at  the 
Salon  during  that  statesman's  presidency.  At  present, 
he  is  chiefly  remembered  as  having  been  Rodin's 
employer  and  patron  for  nearly  twenty  years. 

Falguiere,  Chapu,  Bartholdi,  and  Dalou  were  still 
under  forty  when  the  Republic  was  proclaimed.  The 
contributions  of  the  first  to  the  sculpture  of  the  decade 
were  his   bust   of   Pierre  Corneille  and  his  statue  of 


LITERATURE,   SCIENCE,  AND   ART     249 

Lamartine.  Possessed  of  sterling  talent,  which  was 
capable  of  bringing  forth  workmanship  like  that  of  his 
'Diana,'  he  yet  often  fell  into  the  commonplace,  not  only 
in  his  sere  and  yellow  leaf,  when  he  replaced  Rodin's 
'  Balzac '  with  his,  but  in  his  fresh  manhood.  Chapu 
began  his  celebrity  with  the  funeral  group  on  Henri 
Regnault's  tomb.  He  continued  it  with  a '  Joan  of  Arc ' 
as  a  child  in  the  Bois  Chenu.  Like  Dalou,  he  was 
appreciated  in  England  ;  and  modelled  in  a  subsequent 
decade  the  present  Queen,  the  execution  being  hardly 
so  successful  as  that  of  his  previous  best  pieces.  It  was 
Bartholdi's  good  fortune  also  to  find  in  a  patriotic  subject 
the  occasion  to  affirm  his  capacity  for  modelling  on  a 
grandiose  scale.  His  'Lion  de  Belfort'  was  carved  for  the 
Square  bearing  that  name  in  Paris  and  perpetuating  the 
preservation  of  this  fortress  to  France.  At  the  same 
time,  he  was  preparing  himself  for  the  'Statue  of  Liberty 
enlightening  the  World  '  which  was  soon  to  be  erected  at 
New  York.  Dalou,  who  was  a  pupil  of  Carpeaux,  was 
an  older  contemporary,  as  well  as  a  friend,  of  Rodin.  He 
spent  some  years  after  the  war  in  England,  where  much 
of  his  sculpture  was  bought.  At  Windsor  may  be  seen 
his  group  of  Queen  Victoria's  dead  children.  On 
his  return  to  France,  in  1879,  he  executed  the 
celebrated  bass-relief  at  the  Chamber  of  Deputies 
representing  the  Assembly  of  the  States-General. 

Mercie,  Barrias,  I  nj  albert,  Dampt  and  Rodin  were 
juniors  in  the  seventies,  although  the  last,  who  is  at 
present  France's  greatest  sculptor,  had,  in  1864,  when 
he  was  in  his  twenty-fourth  year,  produced  his  '  Homme 
au  nez  casse,'  which  was  refused  at  the  Salon.  In  1877, 
his  celebrated  '  Age  de  Bronze '  was  exhibited,  and,  a 
couple  of  years  later,  his  '  Saint  Jean,'  both  now  at  the 


250     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

Luxembourg.  Of  his  confreres,  I nj albert  and  Dampt 
possessed  much  originality,  Mercie  and  Barrias  much 
chic.  All  were  to  have  a  considerable  share  in  the 
monumental  statuary  of  later  decades. 

Through  the  ravages  of  the  siege  and  the  Commune, 
which  called  for  immediate  repair,  and  also  through  the 
modernizing  of  the  capital  begun  under  Napoleon  III 
by  Haussmann,  a  unique  opportunity  was  afforded  for 
architecture  to  prove  its  creative  energy  at  the  opening 
of  the  Republican  regime.  To  tell  the  truth,  it  can 
hardly  be  said  that,  in  this  respect,  the  new  excelled 
the  old.  In  general,  too  often  uniformity  substituted 
itself  for  harmonious  diversity  ;  and,  in  both  public  and 
private  buildings,  there  was  a  tendency  to  make  size  a 
synonym  for  beauty,  and  to  sacrifice  everything  to 
alignment  and  facade. 

Garnier's  Opera  was  a  noble  structure,  but  the  credit 
of  it  belongs  rather  to  the  Empire.  Ballu  and  De- 
perthes'  Hotel  de  Ville  was  handicapped  by  the  souvenir 
of  the  lighter  and  more  elegant  municipal  residence  due 
to  Chambiges  and  Le  Boccador  and  which  they  strove 
in  vain  to  resuscitate.  The  Sacre  Cceur  Cathedral  at 
Montmartre,  raised  from  the  plans  of  Monsieur  Abadie, 
was  imposing,  but  heavy ;  and  the  Trocadero,  in 
Moorish  style,  another  production  of  the  decade,  by 
Davioud  and  Bourdaisjost  its  chief  charm  when  the  1878 
Exhibition  disappeared,  of  which  it  formed  a  part. 

Freer  and  more  audacious  in  her  engineering,  the 
Republic  used  it  successfully,  first  in  strategic  under- 
takings intended  to  protect  the  French  frontiers,  and 
encouraged  de  Lesseps  in  his  dreams  of  another  isthmus 
to  pierce,  between  the  two  Americas. 


Photograph  :   Bttlloz 


AXATOLE  FRANCE 

From  the  Portrait  by  WOOG 


X 

LITERATURE,    SCIENCE    AND    ART 
IN   THE   EIGHTIES 

In  the  literature  of  the  period  ranging  from  1880  to 
1890,  the  novel  takes  precedence  both  for  the  quan- 
tity and  the  quality  of  the  output.  Most  of  the  men 
already  famous  increased  the  number  of  their  master- 
pieces, and  several  new  reputations  rose  above  the 
horizon. 

Continuing  his  series  of  the  Rougon-Macquart,  Zola 
brought  out  his  Nana,  Germinal,  UCEuvre  and  the 
Joie  de  vivre.  The  second  of  these  four,  which  is  a 
story  of  the  mines,  is  perhaps  of  all  his  works  the  one 
that  for  simplicity,  pathos  and  good  construction 
deserves  to  rank  highest.  Unequalled  in  painting  that 
which  is  vast  and  aggregate  (street-life,  strikes,  riots), 
he  gives  an  epic  breadth  to  this  portrayal  of  the  miner's 
existence  with  its  perpetual  twilight  atmosphere.  A 
fifth  novel,  La  Terre,  was  published  in  1888.  It  is 
realism  in  its  most  repulsive  aspect,  and  to  some  extent 
justifies  the  judgment  passed  upon  its  author  by  the 
great  English  novelist,  Robert  Louis  Stevenson,  in  the 
following  words :  *  Monsieur  Zola  is  a  man  of  a  per- 
sonal and  fanciful  talent,  approaching  genius,  but  of 
diseased  ideals  ;  a  lover  of  the  ignoble  ;  dwelling  com- 
placently in  foulness ;  and,  to  my  mind,  touched  with 
erotic  madness.' 

251 


252     THE   THIRD   FRENCH    REPUBLIC 

Alphonse  Daudet's  Rois  en  Exil,  I'lmmortel,  VEvan- 
geliste  and  Sapho  are  four  serious  novels  powerfully 
written.  The  first  exhibits  the  world  in  which  sover- 
eigns dwell  who  travel  for  their  pleasure  or  because 
they  have  lost  their  thrones ;  the  second  is  a  satire  on 
the  Academie  Franchise,  and  was  afterwards  made  a 
stumbling-block  to  those  who  would  fain  have  had  him 
among  the  '  forty ' ;  it  hardly  reveals  the  novelist  in 
his  happiest  vein.  Much  superior  are  the  third  and 
fourth  ones :  the  Evangeliste,  based  on  the  experience 
of  an  English  governess  who  had  been  in  his  family, 
showing  what  evil  can  be  wrought  in  a  home  by  hard, 
ascetic  religion  which  crushes  natural  affection,  Sapho, 
what  parasitic  influence  can  be  exercised  by  a  pas- 
sional liaison  on  youthful  principle  and  ambitions.  It 
is  Daudet's  merit  that,  in  treating  sexual  subjects,  he 
is  always  delicate  and  chaste. 

Ferdinand  Fabre's  Chewier  and  Mon  oncle  Celestin 
had  as  successors,  with  an  interval  between,  the 
Roi  Ramire  and  Lucifer.  The  last,  which  relates  a 
priest's  attempts  to  escape  toils  continually  strewn  in 
his  path  by  the  Jesuits,  until  suicide  appears  as  the 
only  alternative  to  soul-slavery,  is  strongly  presented 
and  finely  written,  and  may  be  taken  as  the  author's 
most  characteristic  production. 

De  Goncourt,  in  the  Freres  Zemganno,  La  Faustin 
and  Cherie,  turned  somewhat  from  his  earlier  doctrine 
of  naturalism,  if  not  from  his  impressionist  style.  The 
preface  to  the  Freres  Zemganno  warned  young  writers 
that  success  in  realism  could  only  be  attained  by 
selecting  types  in  high,  not  in  low  society.  This  was 
a  hit  against  Zola.  Two  older  novelists,  Theuriet  and 
Cherbuliez,  whose  books,  though  of  ephemeral  value, 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND   ART     253 

were  a  sesame  admitting  them  into  the  bosom  of  the 
Academy,  were  at  present  in  full  activity.  Theuriet 
wrote  Sauvageon,  Madame  Heurteloup,  Helene  Bigar- 
rcau  and  La  Fie  Rustique  ;  Cherbuliez,  Noir  et  Rouge, 
La  Bete  and  the  Vocation  du  Comtc  Ghiskin.  Con- 
stant to  their  respective  methods,  the  one  selected 
common  subjects  in  country  surroundings,  with  mild 
emotions  in  a  narrow  gamut,  the  other,  themes  more 
bizarre,  yet  attractive,  complicated  with  just  enough 
philosophy,  psychology  and  art  to  refresh  the  jaded 
reader. 

Claretie's  pen  was  naturally  still  busy.  How  he 
found  time  for  such  an  outpour  is  a  mystery.  Les 
Amours  dhin  Interne,  Monsieur  1e  Ministre,  Le  Million, 
Le  train  17  and  Le  Candidat  do  not  exhaust  the  list 
of  his  fiction  in  the  decade.  Monsieur  le  Ministre  is 
generally  considered  to  be  the  best  of  all  the  novels  he 
has  written.  Like  the  Candidat,  it  depicts  the  society 
of  politics,  and  not  the  part  of  it  most  praiseworthy. 
Le  Million  is  conventional  in  its  plot  (the  story  of 
an  inheritance) ;  but  there  is  plenty  of  contrast  in 
the  characters,  and  the  delineation  is  simple  and 
truthful. 

Anatole  France  had  waited  for  fame  ;  but,  when  it 
came,  it  placed  him  at  once  among  the  foremost.  In 
the  preceding  decade  he  had  tried  poetry,  criticism  and 
classical  drama  without  finding  his  forte.  At  length 
he  turned  to  the  kind  of  loosely  constructed  novel  or 
story  which  left  him  at  ease  to  discourse  of  everything 
in  heaven  and  earth  and  to  be  captivating  the  while. 
His  first  real  masterpiece  was  Le  Crime  de  Sijlvestre 
Bonnard,  in  1881  ;  and.  of  the  other  books  written  in 
the   eighties — Les   Dews   de    Jean   Servien,   Abeille, 


254     THE   THIRD   FRENCH    REPUBLIC 

Le  Livre  de  man  Ami,  and  Scenes  de  la  Ville  et  des 
Champs — none  had  quite  the  same  success.  His 
greatest  works  were  yet  to  come ;  but,  in  these  books, 
a  conteur  of  subtle  power  was  revealed,  with  a  style 
that  was  inimitable  for  grace  and  charm. 

Pierre  Loti  is  a  pseudonym  for  Julien  Viaud,  a  naval 
officer,  whose  profession  has  enabled  him  to  visit  many 
lands  and  to  introduce  into  his  books,  as  a  background 
for  subjective  impressions  of  his,  recalling  those  of 
Chateaubriand,  an  artistic  and  picturesque  representa- 
tion of  the  persons  and  places  he  has  seen.  His 
Manage  de  Loti,  from  which  he  took  his  nom  de 
guerre,  preluded  to  Fleurs  d  Ennui,  Pecheursd'Islande, 
Madame  Chrysanthcme,  all  belonging  to  this  period. 
Although  the  scenes  of  these  tales  are  laid  in  very 
dissimilar  latitudes,  there  is  the  same  note  of  melan- 
choly in  them.  The  story  of  the  Breton  girl  whose 
lover  never  returns  from  the  Iceland  fishing  expedi- 
tion, and  that  of  the  sailor  who  goes  to  Japan  and,  for 
a  time,  beguiles  his  tedium  in  the  society  of  a  Japanese 
wife,  yield  a  conviction  of  the  evanescence  of  things 
that  has  both  bitter  and  sweet  in  it.  He  depicts  in 
tints  of  astonishingly  fine  shading  the  landscapes  of 
Brittanjr,  the  tropics  and  the  East ;  and  catches  not 
a  few  of  their  fleeting  beauties.  These  qualities,  to- 
gether with  his  sensibility,  make  up  his  literary  worth. 
In  characterization  he  is  artificial. 

Paul  Bourget's  fame  depends  largely  on  his  at- 
tempted analyses  of  the  human  heart  and  mind.  Like 
Loti  and  France,  he  has  been  chosen  a  member  of  the 
French  Academy,  but  is  the  least  of  the  three.  His 
psychology  is  much  more  a  thing  of  his  own  creation 
than  accurate  observation  of  nature.     Leaving  out  of 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND   ART     255 

count  his  Crime  d 'Amour,  there  are  three  books  pub- 
lished between  1887  and  1889  which  give  the  entire 
range  of  his  psychological  vein — A  ndre  Cornells,  Men- 
songes  and  Lc  Disciple.  The  first  is  an  adaptation  of 
Hamlet  to  a  modern  setting,  the  second  explains  the 
progress  of  an  adulterous  love  in  the  heart  of  a  woman 
of  modern  society,  the  third,  the  effect  of  a  rigid 
philosophic  doctrine  on  the  mind  of  a  young  man 
determined  to  conform  his  conduct  to  it.  In  each  of 
these  studies  there  is  a  great  expense  of  talent,  but  the 
figures  are  mere  marionettes  dancing  to  the  strings 
pulled  by  the  author.  Monsieur  Bourget  out-Taines 
Taine  in  his  theorizing  and  out-Zolas  Zola  in  sensual 
description,  the  only  difference  between  him  and  the 
author  of  Nana  being  the  gauze  that  enwraps  his 
nudities  without  hiding  them. 

Guy  de  Maupassant,  a  godson  of  Flaubert,  was  the 
inheritor  of  his  naturalism  and  a  consummate  artist. 
Dying  too  young  to  leave  a  complete  work,  he  yet 
produced,  both  in  the  long  novel  and  more  especially 
in  the  short  story,  creations  that  for  truth  of  observa- 
tion and  sober  vigour  of  style  are  unsurpassed  in  the 
language.  Une  Vie,  Bel  Ami,  a  masterpiece,  La  Petite 
Roque  and  one  or  two  volumes  of  tales  belong  to  this 
decade.  There  is  evidently  a  pessimistic  note  in  all 
his  writing  ;  but  it  comes  from  the  subject  congruously, 
and  is  not  factitious,  He  does  not  seek  to  penetrate 
very  far  into  the  characters  he  deals  with,  yet  inter- 
prets, as  far  as  he  goes,  with  absolute  fidelity.  Only 
when  at  last  his  nervous  system  broke  down,  did  he 
incline  to  the  unwholesome  kind  of  fiction  represented 
in  his  Horla. 

Huysmans,   who,   during  the  eighties,   brought  out 


256     THE   THIRD    FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

his  A  vau-Veau,  En  radc  and  A  rebours,  was  a  man  of 
two  distinct  temperaments,  the  monk's  and  the  artist's. 
Torn  by  one  and  the  other  throughout  his  life,  he  was 
continually  apologizing  in  religious  asceticism  and 
sojourns  in  brotherhoods  for  his  ineradicable  impulsion 
towards  literature.  A  word-painter  of  exceeding  rich- 
ness and  endowed  with  a  fancy  that  played  in  quaint 
combinations,  he  made  books  which  form  a  sort  of 
marquetterie  wonderful  to  behold,  but  of  small  quicken- 
ing quality. 

Among  the  minor  novelists,  an  elder  who  might 
have  been  mentioned  in  the  seventies  is  Octave 
Feuillet.  In  his  lifetime,  he  had  a  considerable 
vogue,  his  sentimental  Roman  d^tn  jeune  Jiommc 
pauvre  being  dramatized.  In  this  decade  he  pro- 
duced the  Histoire  dune  Parisienne,  La  Morte  and  the 
Amours  dc  Philippe,  experiments  in  idealistic  fiction. 
A  passing  mention  may  here  be  made  of  Renan's 
lighter  philosophic  sketches — Caliban,  UEau  de 
Jouvence,  IS Abbesse  dc  Jouarrc,  useful  as  illustrating 
the  mind-activity  of  this  remarkable  thinker. 

A  young  trio  of  novelists  who  were  destined  to 
become  celebrated  a  dozen  years  later,  published, 
each  in  the  twelvemonth  of  1887,  a  book  that  aroused 
attention — Paul  Adam,  La  Glebe.  Marcel  Prevost,  Le 
Scorpion,  and  J.  H.  Rosny  (two  brothers  under  one 
name),  Le  Bilateral.  Georges  Ohnet's  Comtesse  Sa?\ih 
and  Albert  Delpit's  Mademoiselle  dc  JBressier  were 
popular  society  books,  which  procured  the  authors 
money,  without  possessing  the  merit  of  utility  and 
imaginativeness  found  in  the  writings  of  Jules  Verne 
and  Hector  Malot,  both  of  whom  were  rejoicing  in 
this  period  a  large  circle  of  readers. 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND   ART     257 

The  death  of  Victor  Hugo,  in  1885,  left  Leconte 
de  Lisle  the  uncontested  master  of  French  poetry. 
Less  purely  lyrical  than  his  great  predecessor,  he 
sings  in  lines  of  almost  perfect  beauty,  though  the 
brilliancy  is  occasionally  hard,  the  fugitive  illusions 
of  the  world.  His  Poemes  Antiques  and  Poemes  bar- 
bares  date  back  to  the  Empire.  To  the  eighty 
decade  his  chief  contribution  was  the  Poemes  tra- 
giques,  which  are  the  best  specimen  of  Parnassian 
verse  existing.  Round  about  him  revolved  a  galaxy 
of  admiring  disciples  or  imitators.  Among  these, 
Armand  Silvestre,  Catulle  Mendes,  Laurent  Tailhade 
well  upheld  the  traditions  of  the  school,  the  last  being 
the  best  of  them,  both  by  his  imagination  and  style. 
Known  subsequently  as  a  prince  of  satirists,  he  at 
the  moment  basked  in  his  Jar  din  des  Reves. 

In  a  manner,  Sully  Prudhomme  was  also  a  disciple 
of  Leconte  de  Lisle ;  but  he  had  a  very  personal  style. 
His  lines,  thin  and  vaporous,  are  blended  with  sentiment 
that  makes  them  very  pleasant  reading — once.  His 
Vaines  Tcndresscs  and  Justice  belong  to  the  preceding 
decade.  The  poem  for  which  he  is  most  remembered 
is  his  Vase  brise.  Another  Parnassian,  yet  individual 
too,  was  Jose-Marie  Heredia,  who  in  his  sonnets 
recalls  somewhat  the  Romanticists,  Lamartine  and 
Theophile  Gautier.  It  is  not  nature  he  repro- 
duces, but  astonishing  carving  in  gold,  silver  and 
precious  stones.  At  the  same  time,  he  surrounds 
it  with  emotion,  so  that  the  outlines  are  mostly 
softened. 

Surpassing  these,  if  not  by  their  bulk-creation,  at 
least  by  their  invention  and  influence,  were  Verlaine 
and  Mallarme.     Immediate  predecessors  of  the  Sym- 


258     THE   THIRD    FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

bolists,  they,  each  in  his  own  way,  discovered  fresh 
notes  on  the  French  lyre.  Poetry  after  them,  and 
indeed  with  them,  began  to  recover  some  of  its 
ancient  freedom  and  variety  of  rhythmic  cadence, 
lost  through  the  purism  of  Ronsard,  Malherbe  and 
Boileau.  Mallarme's  Herodiade  and  his  Azur,  with 
some  other  poems  in  magazines  of  that  day,  contain 
him  at  his  highest.  It  was  Herodiade  which,  praised 
in  Huysmans'  novel  A  rebours  in  1884,  brought  him 
prominently  before  the  public.  Verlaine's  most  in- 
teresting verse — La  Bonne  Chanson  and  Romances 
sans  paroles — was  written  either  just  before  or  just 
after  the  war.  His  later  poems,  tinged  with  religious 
melancholy,  have  a  certain  monotonousness,  and  are 
deficient  in  fancy.  But  it  was  chiefly  in  the  eighties, 
after  his  imprisonment  for  shooting  and  wounding  his 
friend  Rimbaud,  that  he  gained  his  renown,  which 
came  to  him  too  late  to  save  his  ruined  life.  His 
Jadis  et  naguere  was  published  in  1884. 

Jean  Richepin,  to-day  an  Academician,  was  in  his 
origins  a  continuer  of  the  Romanticists.  More  violent 
even  than  Hugo  in  his  vocabulary,  and  carrying  further 
than  his  master  the  flexibility  of  his  rhythm,  he  some- 
times lost  himself  in  the  gorgeous  maze  of  his  language. 
His  Chanson  des  G-ueux,  which  has  some  pretty  things 
in  it,  goes  back  to  1876.  The  famous  Blasphemes  and 
La  Mer  are  of  the  eighties. 

In  the  historical  and  biographical  literature  of  the 
period  were  published  some  interesting  memoirs  and 
souvenirs,  those  of  Madame  de  Remusat  relating  to 
the  First  Empire,  those  of  Renan  concerning  his  child- 
hood and  youth,  and  those  of  Maxime  du  Camp  telling 
of  the   world   of  letters   of  his  own  day.     Bourget's 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND   ART     259 

Sensations  dltalie  inaugurate  the  series  of  his  travelling 
impressions,  generally  better  reading  than  his  novels, 
and  Edouard  Drumont's  Mon  Vieux  Paris  offers  more 
charm  than  his  subsequent  anti-Semitic  France  juive 
and  his  journalistic  gall.  The  Empire  des  Tsars  et  les 
Russes,  by  Paul  Leroy-Beaulieu,  and  the  Roman  Rime, 
by  the  Vicomte  Melchior  de  Vogue,  are  both  standard 
works  of  writers  possessing  no  small  merit.  The  same 
may  be  said  of  Camille  Rousset's  Conquete  dAlger. 
Albert  Sorel  and  Ernest  Lavisse  were  two  rising 
historians  in  the  seventies,  the  former  emerging  with 
his  account  of  the  Franco-German  War  in  its  diplomatic 
aspect,  the  latter,  with  his  studies  on  Prussia.  Now 
they  turned  to  earlier  epochs,  and  wrote,  one  on  Europe 
and  the  French  Revolution,  the  other  on  The  Youth  of 
Frederick  the  Great.  More  important  by  its  fairness 
and  moderation  than  by  its  erudition,  contrasting 
pleasantly  with  Michelet's  hatred  of  England,  was 
Joseph  Fabre's  Jeanne  a" Arc,  a  single  volume  out  of 
the  immense  number  pouring  forth  from  the  Press  on 
the  subject  of  the  French  national  heroine. 

Three  eminent  critics  of  nearly  the  same  age  began 
to  be  appreciated  during  Monsieur  Grevj^'s  presidency 
— Ferdinand  Brunetiere,  Emile  Faguet  and  Jules  Le- 
maitre.  The  first  brought  to  the  study  of  literature  a 
culture  of  wide  embrace  and  reasoning  gifts  that  were 
solid  though  a  trifle  lacking  in  intuitiveness ;  he  had 
withal  a  conscientious  fairness  which  gained  him  the 
respect  of  his  opponents.  His  predilection  was  the 
seventeenth  century,  his  favourite  author,  Bossuet ;  he 
detested  modern  naturalism,  and  defended  the  ancient 
classical  school.  His  method  of  criticism  was  analytic; 
but  he  combined  with  it  a  strong  personal  taste  that 


260     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

intrudes  too  much  and  detracts  from  the  objective  value 
of  his  judgments.  Faguet  studies  his  authors  as  much 
as  the  books  they  write.  A  piece  of  literary  composi- 
tion is  for  him  the  occasion  to  speculate  on  all  its 
antecedents  of  character  and  temperament,  which  are 
noted  and  distinguished  with  precision.  Like  Brune- 
tiere,  he  prefers  the  seventeenth  to  the  eighteenth 
century,  and  is  scarcely  just  to  the  latter.  Lemaitre's 
peculiarity,  apart  from  the  lightness  and  grace  of  his 
style,  is  that  of  hedging  and  refusing  to  pronounce 
definitely,  albeit  his  analyses  are  full  of  judicious  dis- 
crimination. This  philosophic  scepticism,  so  far  from 
injuring  his  influence,  has  helped  to  accredit  him  with 
his  readers,  who  are  flattered  by  the  latitude  allowed  to 
their  own  opinion.  Now  and  again,  however,  he  has 
passed  trenchant  condemnations,  which  have  usually 
been  confirmed.  The  memory  of  his  masterly  de- 
nunciation of  Georges  Ohnet  still  survives.  A  poet  in 
his  leisure  hours,  he  aspired  also  to  shine  in  dramatic 
composition,  and,  though  unequal  in  it,  yet  occasionally, 
as  in  the  Massia~e,  achieved  success  and  merited  his 
applause. 

On  the  stage,  Dumas,  Augier  and  Sardou  were  still 
the  favourite  playwrights,  Dumas  producing  his  Prin- 
cessc  de  Bagdad,  Denise  and  Fi*anriUon,  and  Sardou,  his 
Divorpons  and  Clcopatrc,  in  the  latter  of  which  Sarah 
Bernhardt,  supported  by  Philippe  Gamier  as  Antony, 
took  the  role  of  the  Egyptian  Queen.  Augier  died  in 
1889  ;  but  there  was  no  lack  of  fresh  talent.  A  writer 
of  naturalistic  comedy,  whose  pieces  rank  with  the  best 
of  the  decade,  was  Henry  Becque,  to  whom  a  monu- 
ment by  Rodin  has  just  been  erected  in  the  capital. 
His  Corbeaux  and  the  Parisienne  reveal  a  rare  faculty 


Photograph:    Xenidcin 

ALEXANDRE     DUMAS,    THE     DRAMATIST 
From  the  Portrait  bv  MEISSONIER 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND   ART     261 

of  acute  observation,  yet  with  too  much  irony  to 
please  popular  audiences.  Richepin's  La  Glu,  and 
more  especially  his  adaptation  of  Macbeth,  with  Sarah 
Bernhardt  as  his  interpreter  of  Lady  Macbeth,  was 
less  reservedly  praised. 

Favourite  actors  and  actresses  of  the  decade  were 
Feraudy  and  Baron,  Blanche  Baretta  and  Jeanne 
Samary,  favourite  singers,  Reske  and  Madame  Calve. 
In  grand  opera,  Gounod's  Romeo  and  Juliet  and  the 
Lakme  of  Delibes  carried  off  the  palm  ;  and  Audran's 
Mascotte,  in  opera  of  the  lighter  kind.  Claude 
Debussy  was  a  musical  composer  who  in  music  held 
somewhat  the  same  position  as  Verlaine  in  poetry ; 
and  with  him  may  be  classed  Ravel.  Vincent  d'Indy 
was  a  disciple  of  Franck ;  he  founded  what  was 
known  as  the  Scola  Cantorum,  for  the  purpose  of 
reviving  the  ancient  style.  Ernest  Chausson  had  a 
reputation  for  chamber  music ;  Francis  Plante  and 
Diemer  were  pianists  of  great  talent,  who  since  have 
trained  a  whole  generation  of  younger  men  that  to-day 
maintain  the  traditions  of  the  French  school. 


In  the  eighties,  science  had  to  deplore,  besides 
Chevreul's  death,  and  that  of  Wurtz,  who  left  as 
a  heritage  his  Dictionary  of  Chemistry,  still  a  text- 
book for  students,  the  loss  also  of  the  astronomer  Faye 
and  of  Jean-Baptiste  Dumas,  who  was  the  determiner 
of  a  large  number  of  atomic  weights  and  the  simpler 
chemical  bodies,  and  the  author  of  a  Treatise  of  Applied 
Chemistry.  Other  deaths  were  those  of  Sainte-Claire 
Deville  and  de  Debray,  known  by  studies  in  the 
dissociation  of  chemical  bodies,  and  of  Charles  Robin, 


262     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

whose  microscope  work  carried  microbiology  into  the 
investigation  of  a  number  of  contagious  diseases  hitherto 
mysterious  in  their  origin. 

A  tribute  to  the  French  metric  system  was  paid  in 
1881  by  the  adoption  of  the  C.G.S.  (centimetre,  gramme, 
second)  as  the  universal  unit  system  of  computation, 
the  arrangement  being  come  to  in  a  meeting  of  the 
Electrical  Commission  appointed  at  the  instance  of  the 
British  Association. 

In  astronomy,  one  of  Le  Verrier's  successors  was 
Tisserand,  whose  remarkable  Traite  de  mccamquc  celeste, 
the  magnum  opus  of  a  savant  too  soon  taken  by  death 
from  his  labours,  gave  a  complete  tableau  of  the  state 
of  astronomic  science  at  the  time  of  its  being  written. 
One  of  the  younger  professors  at  the  College  de  France, 
during  the  decade,  was  Chatelier,  whose  speciality  was 
then  and  since  has  been  the  study  of  the  domain  inter- 
mediary between  physics  and  chemistry.  Lippman, 
famous  by  his  researches  into  the  solar  spectrum,  was 
one  of  the  pioneers  in  the  photography  of  colours,  which 
he  stumbled  on  whilst  seeking  to  produce  stationary 
luminous  waves  of  light  analogous  to  those  presented 
in  acoustics  by  sonorous  tubes,  and  which  subsequently 
was  to  prove  so  prolific  in  unexpected  developments. 
Another  university  professor,  Monsieur  Boussinesq, 
made  his  pupils  at  the  Sorbonne  acquainted  with  his 
discoveries  in  mathematical  physics,  including  elasticity 
and  the  mechanics  of  fluids,  and  more  particularly  with 
his  theories  of  ether,  which  he  founded  on  experiments 
in  hydrodynamics.  At  first  sight,  ether  appears  to 
possess  contradictory  properties,  since,  as  being  a  fluid 
of  feeble  density,  it  opposes  only  an  insensible  resistance 
to  the  movements  of  the  planets,  whilst,  on  the  other 


LITERATURE,  SCIE:\TCE,  AND   ART     263 

hand,  it  transmits  transversal  vibrations,  just  as  if  it 
were  a  solid.  Monsieur  Boussinesq  attempted  to  ex- 
plain these  contradictions  by  the  relative  slowness  of 
the  celestial  bodies'  motion,  allowing  ether  to  conserve 
its  equality  of  constitution  in  every  direction,  and  con- 
sequently the  properties  of  a  fluid,  whereas  the  fluidity 
vanishes  and  yields  its  place  to  elasticity  in  presence  of 
the  excessive  speed  of  the  luminous  vibrations. 

The  field  of  scientific  research  had  become  so  ex- 
tensive in  the  last  few  years  and  the  methods  of 
observation  so  minute  that  scholars  and  experimentalists 
were  compelled  more  and  more  to  confine  themselves 
to  portions  of  one  branch  only  in  order  to  obtain  results. 
To  speak  of  all  these  would  be  impossible  in  a  brief 
sketch.  To  the  few  names  given  above  can  be  added 
here,  however,  those  of  Chennevieres,  the  archaeologist, 
Ponchet,  the  naturalist,  Figuier,  the  vulgarised  cur  of 
astronomic  and  other  knowledge,  and  of  Janet  and 
Vacherot,  both  philosophers  of  no  mean  worth. 


# 


In  1883,  at  the  early  age  of  fifty,  died  Gustave 
Dore,  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  artistic  pheno- 
mena of  his  century.  Endowed  with  a  sense  of  form 
which,  had  it  been  cultivated  by  a  patient  study  of 
nature,  might  have  given  to  his  country  a  Da  Vinci  or 
a  Michael  Angelo,  he  deliberately  closed  his  eyes  to 
reality  and  preferred  to  draw  and  to  paint  the  heroes  of 
literature  as  his  fancy  conceived  them.  It  was  thus 
that  he  illustrated  Rabelais'  Gargantua,  Perraulfs 
Tales,  Don  Quixote,  the  Divine  Comedy  and  the  Bible, 
with  a  picturesqueness,  a  verve,  an  accentuation  of 
traits,  verging  on  caricature,  that  compensated  for  his 


264     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

incorrectness  of  anatomy  and  the  repetition  of  his 
effects.  Never  perhaps  was  genius  more  wilfully 
wasted  in  the  enjoyment  of  a  chimera,  which  tickled 
the  attention  of  a  whole  generation  but  contained 
nothing  by  which  posterity  might  permanently  profit. 

Nearly  all  the  surviving  artists  noticed  in  the 
preceding  decade  added  to  their  performance  in  this 
one,  while  a  number  of  their  juniors  in  fame  succeeded 
in  getting  their  own  claims  respected.  Manet  died  in 
the  same  year  as  Gustave  Dore,  and  at  the  same  age. 
Only  when  a  posthumous  exhibition  of  his  aggregate 
work  was  held,  did  his  fellow-countrymen  realize  in  his 
'  Olympia,'  and  other  characteristic  canvases,  how 
superior  his  method  of  modelling  surfaces  was  to  the 
conventional  use  of  outlines. 

Camille  Pissarro,  slightly  Manet's  senior,  was  painting 
in  the  seventies  and  even  long  before  ;  and  yet  his  re- 
putation dates  back  rather  to  his  maturity,  which  coin- 
cided with  his  conversion  to  impressionism  and  for  a 
while,  also,  to  neo-impressionism,  though  the  pointille 
of  this  latter  style  was  soon  abandoned.  After  paint- 
ing Norman  landscapes  and  gardens,  with  the  happiest 
effects  of  light  and  transparency,  he  began  the  search 
for  that  mysterious  ambiency  of  luminous  air  which, 
when  transferred  to  his  canvases,  suggests  the  ether 
behind  it.  His  'Faneuse,'  'Beau  Jour  d'hiver  a  Eragny,' 
'  Pruniers  en  fleurs'  and  '  Paysanne  gardant  ses  chevres,' 
are  some  of  the  finest  realizations  modern  art  has 
attained. 

Claude  Monet  is  the  typical  impressionist  painter, 
the  one  in  whose  work  principle  and  practice  go  most 
intimately  united.  In  his  series  of  the  '  Banks  of  the 
Thames,'   his    '  Gare    Saint    Lazare '   and    his    fifteen 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND   ART     265 

aspects  of  a  corn-rick  under  skies  changed  by  season 
and  hour  of  the  day — to  mention  only  these — he  shows 
what  surprising  variety  and  unsuspected  richness  of 
colour  a  real  artist  can  see,  where  a  Peter  Bell  sees  the 
commonplace  and  nothing  more.  Whether  at  times 
this  vision  does  not  lose  touch  with  solidity  and  weight 
and  even  form  is  debatable.  But  then,  would  the 
pictures  gain  by  the  contact  ? 

Raffaelli,  whose  portrait  of  Monsieur  Clemenceau  is 
a  masterpiece  of  psychological  interpretation,  was  a 
curious  figure,  in  the  eighties,  in  his  shop  of  the  Avenue 
del'Opera,  which  he  rented  for  the  exposition  of  his  paint- 
ings and  pieces  of  sculpture  representing  for  the  most 
part  the  lower  middle  classes.  These  he  reproduces  with 
a  fidelity  to  nature  that  comes  from  sympathy  as  well  as 
art.  His  '  Old  Man  cutting  down  Trees  '  and  '  Washer- 
woman of  Asnieres '  are  good  examples  of  his  realism 
and  vigour.    His  later  achievement  is  in  a  quieter  tone. 

Roll,  the  painter  of  the  '  Greve  des  Mineurs '  and 
Besnard,  whose  Grand  Prix  de  Rome—'  Timophane' — 
in  1874  prefaced  his  vogue  both  in  England  and  France, 
developed  during  the  decade  not  only  their  very  con- 
siderable talent  as  portraitists,  but  as  painters  of  large 
decorative  panels.  Besnard's  'Truth  bringing  the 
Light,'  for  one  of  the  ceilings  of  the  Hotel  de  Ville, 
was  conceived  and  executed  in  the  same  note  as  Puvis 
de  Chavannes'  '  Summer'  there,  and  this  artist's  fine 
mural  decorations  at  the  new  Sorbonne.  In  presence 
of  such  workmanship,  the  more  pretentious  rush  and 
crush  of  Rochegrosse's  panoramas  or  even  Detaille's 
clear-cut  sections  of  imagined  battlefields  appear  singu- 
larly unattractive. 

One  of  the  most  distinguished  impressionists  of  the 


266     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

decade  was  Alfred  Sisley,  whose  '  Bords  de  la  Seine '  was 
exhibited  in  1881,  and  who  continued  the  like  sort  of 
landscapes  in  his  '  Environs  of  Moret '  and  the  '  Banks 
of  the  Loing.'  In  these  pictures  the  artist  delights  in 
showing  the  bluish  hue  of  verdures  where  the  firma- 
ment overhangs  grassy  paths  and  reedy  levels  and 
where  the  heat  of  the  atmosphere  becomes  a  visible 
fact. 

Rodin's  sculpture  dominates  the  eighties  to  the 
extent  of  nearly  hiding  that  of  his  brother  artists. 
His  prodigious  '  Hell  Gate,'  his  monuments  of  '  Claude 
Lorrain '  and  the  '  Citizens  of  Calais ' — his  best  achieve- 
ment in  the  Gothic — his  busts  of  Madame  Vicuna, 
Mademoiselle  Claudel,  Henri  Rochefort,  Puvis  de 
Chavannes,  to  mention  only  a  few  pieces,  were  all 
practically  completed  and  his  '  Victor  Hugo  '  begun  in 
the  decade.  Bringing  back  more  fully  into  this  diffi- 
cult art  what  had  been  neglected  and  forgotten  by  the 
majority  of  his  immediate  predecessors,  introducing  an 
amplification  of  parts  and  a  detail  of  anatomy  that 
gave  his  creations  the  semblance  of  life  and  movement, 
he  revolutionized  modelling  methods  so  radically  that 
thenceforward  his  bitterest  professional  opponents  were 
compelled  to  modify  their  style. 

Jules  Desbois,  Carries,  and  Jean  Baffier  were 
specialists  in  the  statuary  art,  applying  themselves 
chiefly  to  ornamental  carving  and  maintaining  the  best 
French  tradition  in  what  they  executed.  Baffler's 
'  Master  Ironworker '  and  Desbois'  '  Death  and  the 
Woodcutter '  are  specimens  of  larger  sculpture  that 
have  become  celebrated. 

In  the  comparatively  recent  application  of  art  to 
advertizing,   Jules    Cheret    was     an    initiator.     After 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND   ART     267 

spending  some  years  in  London,  he  suddenly  burst 
upon  Paris  with  something  that  had  never  yet  been 
done.  His  wall  bills  were  marvels  of  design  and  colour, 
essential  points  being  thrown  into  evidence  amidst 
a  firework  coruscation  of  graceful  forms.  It  was  a 
novel  sort  of  caricature  without  satire.  Successors 
soon  were  numerous  in  this  genre  which  he  invented 
and  perfected  at  once. 

Caricaturists  who  occupied  much  the  same  position 
as  Gill  in  the  seventies  were  Caran  d'Ache  and 
Bertall,  the  former  specializing  himself  in  the  portrait- 
charge,  the  latter  in  recording  characteristic  Parisian 
types.  Bertall  died  in  1882.  Roby,  Levillain,  Bourgeois 
and  Ringel  d'lllzach  were  celebrated  medallion  en- 
gravers, the  first  three  chiefly  of  commemorative 
medallions,  the  last  more  peculiarly  of  men  famous  in 
literature  and  art.  The  1889  Exhibition  gave  the 
public  an  opportunity  of  knowing  and  appreciating 
a  number  of  artificers  distinguished  by  their  skill  in 
decorative  work.  On  Gobelin  tapestries  could  be 
seen  the  names  of  Georges  Claude,  Galland  and  Parent. 
Parent  also  supplied  tasteful  designs  for  carved  furni- 
ture, which  Beaufils  executed  ;  while  in  gold,  silver 
and  other  metals  the  chiselling  of  Moreau,  Faniere, 
Marron  and  Fontenay  was  marked  by  originality  of 
design  and  harmony  in  the  effect. 

The  great  engineering  feat  of  the  decade  was  the 
tower  of  three  hundred  metres,  erected  in  the  Champ 
de  Mars  by  Monsieur  Eiffel,  which  was  a  triumph  of 
combined  art  and  science,  and  which,  after  being  the 
clou  of  the  Exhibition,  remained  to  serve,  in  ways 
then  hardly  dreamt  of,  the  purposes  of  future  meteor- 
ology and  telegraphy.     Together  with  the  Palais  des 


268     THE   THIRD   FRENCH    REPUBLIC 

Machines,  it  was  the  culminating  point  in  the  utiliza- 
tion of  iron  in  large  structures — a  practice  introduced 
into  France  by  Ballard,  when  erecting  the  Halles 
Centrales. 

Another  interesting  architectural  inauguration  in  the 
Exhibition  year  was  that  of  the  Bourse  du  Commerce, 
near  the  Rue  St.  Thomas  du  Louvre.  In  its  new  form, 
it  was  the  transformation  of  the  old  Halle  au  Blc  con- 
structed between  1762  and  1767.  This  Halle  rose  on 
the  site  of  the  ancient  Hotel  de  Soissons,  which  had 
been  built  in  1572  for  Catherine  de  Medici  and  was 
demolished  in  1748.  Of  the  primitive  edifice  one 
column  was  preserved,  which  tradition  pointed  out  as 
being  that  used  by  the  Queen  for  her  astrological 
observations.  In  1886,  the  Municipal  Council  of 
Paris  decided  on  the  transformation.  The  architect 
kept  the  eighteenth-century  rotunda,  increasing  its 
height  by  a  story  and  surmounting  it  with  an  attic 
roof.  The  interior  of  the  cupola  was  ornamented  with 
paintings  by  Clairin,  Lucas,  Lauge  and  Luminais. 


XI 

LITERATURE,    SCIENCE    AND    ART 
IN   THE   NINETIES 

Literature,  as  indeed  art,  in  the  last  ten  years  of  the 
century,  was  decidedly  transitional.  Fresh  forms  were 
essayed,  and  in  them  there  was  an  increasing  preoccu- 
pation with  the  modern  problems  of  life,  suggested 
largely  by  physical  and  mental  science.  In  the  case 
of  certain  writers — Bourget,  Coppee,  Brunetiere,  for 
instance — the  evolution  was  reactionary,  carrying  them 
into  closer  communion  with  Conservative  Catholicism. 
Brunetiere's  Science  et  Religion  exhibits  the  tendency 
clearly.  Zola,  Anatole  France,  Paul  Adam,  de  Pres- 
sense,  on  the  contrary,  evolved  towards  liberalism  and 
free-thought.  Neither  on  the  one  side  nor  on  the  other 
was  the  phenomenon  without  its  disadvantage  from 
a  literary  point  of  view.  Zola,  in  his  Debacle,  Lourdes, 
Rome  and  his  Gospels,  grew  progressively  duller  as  he 
became  less  gross.  And  even  Anatole  France,  towards 
the  end  of  the  century,  allowed  his  grace  and  charm  to 
be  a  little  weakened  by  the  intrusion  of  politics,  so  that 
the  Anneau  d'Amethyste  shows  a  falling-off  from  his 
Orme  du  Mail.  Fortunately  there  was  his  TJia'is,  pub- 
lished in  1890,  in  which  everything  is  perfect,  and  his 
Monsieur  Bergeret  and  Jerome  Coignard,  wherever 
they  appear,  still  captivate  and  please. 

Upon  a  few  of  the  younger  novelists,  Edouard  Rod, 

269 


270     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

with  his  Michel  Teissier,  and  Paul  Margueritte,  with  his 
Force  des  Choses  and  La  Tourmente,  the  influence  of 
George  Eliot  and  Tolstoy  was  plainly  visible.  There 
is  an  intuition  of  the  inner  life  and  a  wider  moral 
atmosphere  in  them  than  had  yet  been  aesthetically  pre- 
sented in  the  modern  French  novel.  Similar  to  their 
work  in  some  respects  was  that  of  the  brothers  Rosny, 
whose  Indompte  and  Vamirch  are  both  remarkably 
and  the  latter  powerfully  written. 

Loti,  like  a  number  of  the  older  writers  of  fiction, 
remained  outside  of  the  evolutionist  movement.  His 
Desert  and  Jerusalem  were  mere  repetitions  of  what 
he  had  already  said,  the  framework  only  being  altered. 
The  same  may  be  said  of  Huysmans,  whose  Cathe- 
drale  appeared  in  1897.  In  Bourget  there  was  a 
change,  but  it  came  more  slowly.  His  Terre  promise, 
Cosmopolis  and  Duckesse  Bleue  were  books  of  varying 
tone,  and  partly  recall  his  earlier  style,  partly  prelude 
to  his  later.  His  Outre  Mer  of  1895,  giving  his  im- 
pressions of  America,  is  less  valuable  than  his  previous 
impressions  of  England  and  Italy.  One  perceives  that 
the  writer's  vision  is  unprepared  for  what  he  sees  and 
interprets  with  less  truth. 

A  novelist  of  great  promise,  belonging  to  this  period 
by  his  best  production,  was  Maurice  Barres,  since  gone 
astray  into  politics  and  Nationalism,  whose  Ennemi  des 
his  was  published  early  in  the  nineties,  and  his 
D&racines  towards  the  end.  His  analyses  of  moral 
states  of  mind  are  more  accurate  than  Bourget's, 
and  he  has  a  sentiment  of  nature  that  the  latter 
possesses  hardly  at  all.  Leon  Daudet,  the  son  of 
Alphonse,  soon  to  be  known  as  a  writer  of  novels  of 
morbid  psychology,  obtained  a  certain  notoriety  with 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND   ART     271 

his  Morti coles  in  1894.  Like  Barres,  he  later  drifted 
into  polemics,  and  became  a  rival  to  Drumont  in  his 
diatribes  against  the  Jews  and  all  their  works.  Better 
than  either  of  the  foregoing  was  Paul  Hervieu,  in  his 
Armature,  a  novel  of  acute  observation,  dealing  with 
the  aristocratic  classes.  Dramatic  composition  has 
more  recently  encroached  on  his  novel-writing.  His 
Tenailles  in  1895  was  one  of  the  pieces  a  these  now 
becoming  common  on  the  stage,  posing  a  mental 
dilemma  of  moral  reference  and  placing  the  interest  of 
the  play  in  its  solution. 

The  chief  interest  of  poetry  in  the  nineties  was  the 
rapid  rise  and  spread  of  symbolism.  Symbolist  poetry 
contemplates  rather  than  describes  a  thing.  It  presents 
us  with  images  that  themselves  melt  into  visions. 
Thus  it  is  widely  different  from  Parnassian  verse, 
which  shows  the  thing  in  its  entirety  and  void  of  asso- 
ciation with  aught  mysterious.  There  is  a  good  deal 
of  truth  in  what  Mallarme  remarks :  "  To  name  an 
object  is  to  suppress  most  of  the  enjoyment  of  the 
poem,  which  is  made  up  of  the  happiness  of  gradually 
divining.  To  suggest  the  object  gives  the  dream." 
Symbolism  had  already  appeared  fugitively  and 
by  chance  in  the  greater  French  poets,  ancient  and 
modern,  as  well  as  in  the  popular  ballads  of 
the  country ;  but  no  consistently  artistic  use  was 
made  of  it  until  about  the  end  of  the  eighties.  It 
matters  little  who  was  the  initiator,  whether  Ephraim 
Mikael,  prematurely  cut  off  after  publishing  his 
Automne,  his  Fiancee  de  Corinthe  and  Le  Cor  Fleuri 
(dramas),  and  writing  a  lyric  Briseis  with  Catulle 
Mendes,  or  else  Gustave  Kahn,  whose  Palais  Nomades, 
Domaine  de  Fee,  and  Livre  d  Images  contain  some  of 


272     THE   THIRD    FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

his  most  characteristic  verse.  The  thing  which  imports 
is  that,  during  the  last  twenty  years,  a  body  of  sym- 
bolist poetry  has  been  produced,  containing  much  that 
is  superior  not  only  to  all  that  the  Parnassians,  but 
even  to  all  that  the  Romanticists  ever  brought  forth, 
with  Victor  Hugo  to  help  them. 

As  being  more  fitting  to  their  song,  most  of  the 
symbolists  introduced  the  so-called  vers  libre,  which 
makes  light  of  Parnassian  prosody,  rhyming,  like 
English  verse,  rather  for  the  ear  than  for  the  eye,  uses 
both  assonance  and  unrhymed  lines,  and  cares  nothing 
for  the  alternation  of  masculine  and  feminine  rhymes, 
while  it  puts  the  cesura  where  it  pleases.  Moreover, 
the  best  and  boldest  of  the  free-verse  poets  make  tonic 
accent  the  basis  of  their  metre,  and  often  neglect  the 
famous  e  mute.  Among  the  foremost  symbolists  in 
poetry  that  were  prolific  before  1900,  besides  the  two 
already  mentioned,  were  two  men  of  American  origin 
but  educated  in  France — Viele-Griffin  and  Stuart 
Merrill. 

Under  the  pen  of  the  latter,  French  verse  regains  all 
its  sonorousness  of  tonic  accent  that  it  possessed  in  the 
time  of  Villon.  He  is  a  veritable  word-sorcerer,  his 
Fastes  and  Petit s  Pocmes  cPAutomne  re-creating  the  past 
of  experience  in  sunset  colours  of  beauty  or  a  soft 
gloaming  of  chiaroscuro,  and  his  Quatre  Saisons  calling 
up  magnificent  vistas  of  hope. 

Viele-Griffin  has  a  happy  union  of  qualities.  His 
seriousness  is  never  heavy  ;  his  lightness  is  never  trivial. 
His  verse  has  philosophy  in  it,  but  so  fused  in  the 
crucible  as  to  come  forth  in  emotiveness  ;  it  has  melody, 
now  quaint,  now  blithe,  now  solemn.  No  other  poet 
has  used  the  vers  libre  with  greater  effect.     Certain  of 


Photograph  :   Druet 


MADAME     REJANE 
From  a  Caricature  bv   MATTHES 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND   ART     273 

his  poems,  such  as  Swanhilde  and  La  Legende  ailee 
de  Wieland  le  Forgeron  are  dramatic ;  others,  La 
Chevauchee  d'Yeldis,  are  allegories.  A  small  volume, 
called  Joies,  and  published  in  1889,  is  a  lyrical  master- 
piece. It  takes  up  the  whole  refrains  of  peasant 
minstrelsy  and  gives  them  a  setting  that  is  of  pure  art. 

Between  Gustave  Kahn's  Palais  Nomades  of  the 
first  hour — a  work  of  somewhat  too  evanescent  charac- 
ter— and  the  Livre  d Linages  of  his  maturity,  with  its 
strong  human  pity,  there  is  a  turning  to  the  social  ideal, 
and — what  does  not  always  happen  in  poetry  any  more 
than  in  the  novel — a  constant  maintenance  of  artistic 
execution  notwithstanding. 

Henri  de  Regnier,  de  Heredia's  son-in-law,  is  a 
symbolist  who  not  infrequently  reverts  to  Parnassian 
prosody  and  excels  in  both  styles.  His  Jeux  Rustiques 
et  Divins  and  Mcdaillcs  d'Argile  both  have  a  plastic 
shapeliness ;  and,  in  the  earlier  of  the  two,  there  is  a 
breath  of  the  Elizabethan  amourists. 

The  symbolists  are  numerous.  To  mention  all  that 
have  distinguished  themselves  would  be  impossible  in 
this  sketch.  Robert  de  Montesquiou  with  his  Horten- 
sias  bkus,  Paul  Fort,  a  sort  of  French  Walt  Whitman, 
with  his  Ballades  Francaises  in  rhythmic  prose  half- 
rhymed,  Francis  Jammes,  Jean  JMoreas,  Pierre  Quillard, 
Emmanuel  Signoret  must  suffice  for  the  rest. 

Outside  the  symbolist  movement,  and  yet  affected  by 
it,  as  all  modern  French  poetry  of  the  higher  kind  must 
be,  there  were,  in  the  nineties,  Pierre  Louys,  who 
wrote  the  Chansons  a  Bilitis,  and  more  especially  that 
really  great  master  of  song,  Albert  Samain,  whose  lines 
are  all  music,  the  author  of  Au  Jar  din  de  V Infante, 
Aux  Flancs  du  Vase,  some  poetic  prose  tales,  and  a 


274     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

drama  Polypheme,  which  has  just  been  put  on  the  stage, 
some  years  after  his  death.  Samain's  fragment,  Je 
reve  d!une  He  ancienne  and  his  Happy  Isle  are  unique 
in  the  language. 

The  historical  contributions  made  to  literature  in  the 
nineties  were  mostly  books  of  serious  documenta- 
tion, though  not  always  accompanied  by  impartiality. 
Besides  the  continued  labour  of  men  whose  names 
have  already  been  given,  there  were  the  Presidencies 
of  Thiers  and  MacMahon  by  Zevort,  useful  but  too 
exclusively  political;  the  Napoleon  and  Alexander  I 
of  Albert  Vandal,  now  a  member  of  the  Academie 
Franeaise ;  Hanotaux'  interesting  Biography  of  Car- 
dinal Richelieu;  Lanson's  comprehensive  sketch  of 
French  literature ;  Eugene  Spuller's  Figures  disparues, 
dealing  with  his  contemporaries  ;  Houssaye's  Waterloo, 
graphically  presented ;  the  Due  de  Broglie's  Memoires 
de  Talleyrand,  interesting  but  insufficiently  authentic  ; 
Marbot's  Memoirs  of  the  First  Empire,  one  of  the 
greatest  biographical  successes  of  the  decade,  reading 
with  the  attraction  exercised  by  a  novel.  Ernest 
Daudet,  the  novelist's  brother,  known  by  his  Souvenirs 
of  MacMahon  and  of  the  Due  d'Aumale,  published  his 
curious  Coulisses  de  la  Societe  Parisienne ;  Emile  Des- 
chanel,  his  Lamartine ;  Arvede  Barine,  her  Alfred  de 
3Iusset ;  Gustave  Larroumet,  his  Etudes  de  litterature 
et  (Tart;  while  John  Grand-Carteret,  carrying  on  his 
persevering  studies  in  the  history  of  caricature,  brought 
out  Wagner  en  caricature.  In  criticism  and  essay  writ- 
ing, the  daily  papers  supplied,  as  ever,  a  stream  of  articles 
marked  by  incisiveness  and  good  style ;  and  a  number 
of  weeklies — the  Annales  politiques  et  littc'r aires  being 
a  fair  type  of  them — clever  writing  of  a  more  deliberate 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND   ART     275 

kind.  Brunetiere's  position  in  the  editorial  chair  of 
the  Revue  des  Deux  Mondes  gave  a  bias  to  this 
important  periodical,  which,  at  this  date,  was  equalled 
by  the  Revue  de  Paris,  a  re-creation  of  the  decade,  under 
the  editorship  of  Ganderax  and  Lavisse. 

On  the  whole,  the  drama  of  the  nineties  would 
appear  to  have  achieved  greater  success  than  the  novel. 
Some  of  the  older  playwrights  were  still  popular,  and 
won  fresh  laurels,  Coppee,  for  instance,  with  his  Pour 
la  Couronne,  and  Sardou,  with  Madame  Sam-Gene ; 
while  Jules  Lemaitre  triumphed  with  his  comedies 
characterized  by  delicate  satire :  Le  Depute  Deveau, 
Filipote  and  Le  Pardon.  A  number  of  younger  and 
mostly  new  writers  produced  pieces  that  have  since 
held  the  stage ;  Hervieu  adding  Da  lot  de  Vhomme  to 
the  Tenailles  already  mentioned ;  Lavedan  giving 
De  Prince  d'Aurec,  in  the  style  of  Beaumarchais,  and 
also  Nouveau  Jeu  ;  Maurice  Donnay,  Da  Douloureuse, 
De  Torrent  and  Amants ;  Brieux,  D Evasion  and 
De  Berceau ;  Richepin,  De  Chemineau ;  Hermant,  Da 
Meute  ;  Mirbeau,  Des  Manvais  Bergers ;  de  Curel,  De 
Repas  du  Dion;  de  Porto  Riche,  De  passe;  Rostand, 
Cyrano  de  Bergerac.  Of  these  authors,  Brieux  was 
more  directly  didactic ;  Mirbeau  more  bitingly  satirical ; 
Porto  Riche  more  daringly  analytical ;  while  Rostand 
brought  back  to  the  theatre  a  good  share  of  the  old 
romance  it  had  lost.  There  were  other  occasional 
dramatists  who  also  pleased  the  public :  Deroulede, 
with  his  patriotic  du  Guesclin,  repeating  his  earlier  hit 
of  the  Hetman;  Prevost,  with  his  Demi-Vierges ; 
Capus,  with  his  Rosine ;  and  Feydeau,  with  his  farce 
Da  Dame  de  chez  Maocim.  At  the  Opera,  the  Thais 
of  Anatole  France  was   played  to  Massenet's  music, 


276     THE   THIRD   FRENCH    REPUBLIC 

and  Zola's  Messidor  to  that  of  Bruneau.  Benjamin 
Godard's  Vivandiere  and  Saint-Saens'  Fredegonde 
were  likewise  musical  masterpieces  of  the  decade. 
Among  the  chief  operatic  singers,  Alvarez  and  Delmas, 
with  Mesdames  Rose  Caron  and  Grandjean,  occu- 
pied privileged  positions ;  and  Paul  Mounet,  Truffier, 
Le  Bargy,  with  Mesdames  Rejane,  Granier  and  Jane 
Hading  were  equally  celebrated  in  tragedy  or  in 
comedy. 

In  musical  composition,  there  were  men  of  varied 
talent,  who,  if  they  hardly  reached  the  level  of  great- 
ness, were  nevertheless  real  artists.  Gabriel  Faure, 
who  became  Director  of  the  Conservatoire,  was 
distinguished  by  his  Licds,  not  to  speak  of  his 
Prometheus',  Messager,1  known  in  England  by  his 
having  occupied  the  Directorship  of  Covent  Garden 
Theatre,  excelled  in  operetta  music ;  Chabrier,  of  the 
Impressionist  school,  personal  and  original  in  his  inven- 
tion, produced  orchestral  pieces  full  of  the  picturesque ; 
as  two  examples  may  be  cited  his  rhapsody  La  bourree 
fantasque  and  Gwendoline.  An  organist  of  note 
during  the  period  was  Guilmant ;  and  Raoul  Pugno 
ranked  high  for  his  execution  on  the  piano. 

* 
#     # 

In  scientific  progress,  the  decade  was,  if  anything, 

richer  than  its   predecessors.      Important   discoveries 

were  made  in  nearly  every  branch  of  knowledge,  most 

of  them  promising  large  practical  benefit  to  humanity. 

One  of  the  most  extraordinary  was  that  of  radium  due 

to  Monsieur  and  Madame  Curie,  who  had  previously 

detected   the    existence   of   an    element,  which    they 

called  polonium,  in  the  metal  uranium. 

1  At  present  Director  of  the  Grand  Opera. 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND   ART     277 

Their  researches  in  this  direction  were  originally 
inspired  by  their  noticing  certain  peculiar  properties  in 
the  so-called  X-rays.  Not  long  after  Rontgen's  success- 
ful experiments.  Monsieur  Henri  Becquerel  proved 
that  uranium  and  its  salts  emitted  invisible  rays  capable 
of  influencing  a  photographic  plate  and  of  rendering 
the  air  they  passed  through  conductive  of  electricity. 
It  appeared,  besides,  that  these  rays  traversed  black 
paper  and  metals,  and  that  they  were  neither  reflected 
nor  refracted  in  the  process.  Another  surprising  thing 
was  that  the  emission  of  the  rays  was  spontaneous ; 
they  were  produced  by  no  exciting  cause  and  remained 
intact  in  spite  of  chemical  combination.  The  cause  of 
such  energy  was  the  object  of  many  discussions,  the 
interest  increasing  as  it  was  found  that  other  bodies 
possessed  the  same  radiating  properties  as  uranium, 
and  that  the  radio-activity  was  greater  in  some  of  the 
natural  ores  of  uranium  and  thorium  than  in  uranium 
itself.  Madame  Curie  concluded  that  these  ores  con- 
tained traces  of  new  substances  strongly  radio-active. 
Helped  by  Monsieur  Bemond,  she  and  her  husband 
undertook  fresh  experiments  which  soon  led  to  the 
knowledge  of  polonium  precipitated  in  chemical  com- 
binations with  bismuth,  and  of  radium  precipitated 
with  barium.  The  entrance  of  radium  into  the  domain 
of  science  has  begotten  a  new  theory  of  matter,  that 
of  electrons,  into  which,  in  its  final  analysis,  it  is  sup- 
posed to  be  reducible. 

Two  other  physicists  of  renown,  Moissan  and  Dewar, 
carried  the  transformation  of  elements  to  a  greater 
extent  than  had  hitherto  been  reached,  the  latter  solidi- 
fying hydrogen  after  liquefying  it,  the  former  liquefy- 
ing fluorine  and  changing  carbon  into  small  diamonds. 


278     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

And  Deslandres,  by  means  of  spectrum  analysis, 
found  two  unknown  gases  in  atmospheric  air,  which  he 
named  neon  and  protargon. 

Henri  Poincare,  one  of  three  distinguished  brothers, 
by  his  bold  treatment  of  mathematics,  gave  to 
astronomy  a  fresh  point  of  departure  which  its  investi- 
gations had  long  needed.  He  relaid  the  foundations 
of  geometry  and  algebra  ;  and,  building  on  them  a 
system  at  once  surer  and  of  larger  embrace,  furnished 
in  his  Methodes  nouvelles  de  la  Mecanique  celeste,  a 
guide  which,  if  not  as  affirmative  as  could  be  desired, 
was  yet  calculated  to  save  from  many  errors. 

In  the  field  of  applied  science  inventions  were  also 
numerous.  As  examples  may  be  mentioned  the 
cinematograph,  with  which  the  name  of  Monsieur 
Lumiere  is  associated ;  Moussards'  photography  in 
relief ;  Linde's  apparatus  for  the  liquefaction  of  gases  ; 
Tissot's  system  of  radio-conductors  for  wireless  tele- 
graphy ;  Richet  and  Tatin's  aeroplane. 

In  physiological  botany,  the  researches  of  de  Vries 
cast  additional  light  on  the  role  of  what  is  called 
osmotic  force,  while  another  savant,  Guignard,  made 
a  whole  series  of  discoveries  concerning  the  way  in 
which  plants  are  nourished.  Loewy  in  astronomy, 
Duclaux  in  bacteriology,  followed  in  the  steps  of 
Le  Verrier  and  Pasteur.  In  medicine  Dr.  Bra's  isola- 
tion of  the  cancer  champignon  advanced  the  study  of 
this  terrible  disease  and  gave  hopes  of  its  ultimate  cure. 

# 

An  event  that  made  some  stir  among  artists  at  the 
beginning  of  the  nineties  was  the  secession  of  a  number 
of  prominent  painters  and  sculptors  from  the  official 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND   ART     279 

Societe  des  Artistes  Francais  and  the  formation  of 
a  rival  Salon,  under  the  control  of  a  new  society 
calling  itself  the  Societe  Nationale  des  Beaux  Arts. 
The  split  happened  in  this  way.  An  International 
Committee  of  Fine  Arts  had  been  elected  in  the  year 
1889  for  the  purpose  of  awarding  medals  and  certifi- 
cates to  artists  whose  submitted  works  should  have 
been  approved  at  the  Great  Universal  Exhibition. 
Profiting  by  their  international  mandate,  the  Com- 
mittee made  their  awards  on  lines  sensibly  differing 
from  those  previously  followed  by  the  Society  of 
French  Artists,  not  only  with  regard  to  the  foreign 
exhibitors,  but  French  ones  as  well.  Some  of  the 
pontiffs  were  relegated  to  the  background,  and,  to 
certain  men  of  merit  whose  claims  had  hitherto  been 
systematically  passed  over,  first  and  second-class  medals 
were  given.  Rodin  was  on  the  International  Com- 
mittee ;  so  were  Meissonier  and  Dalou  and  Carolus 
Duran ;  and  they  utilized  their  opportunity.  But 
when  the  ordinary  Salon  committee  met  and  were 
asked  to  confirm  these  decisions,  reply  was  made  that 
the  French  Society  of  Artists  were  not  bound  to  respect 
them  ;  and  the  awards  were  considerably  modified  in 
the  case  of  the  French  artists.  Meissonier  and  his 
friends  opposed  this  modification,  asserting  that  it  was 
an  insult  to  the  International  Committee.  Finding 
their  protest  was  ignored,  the  minority  quitted  the 
meeting  and  proceeded  to  the  Ledoyen  Restaurant  in 
the  Champs  Elysees ;  and  there  they  agreed  to  form  an 
association  on  a  broader  basis  than  that  of  the  Artistes 
Francais.  The  result  was  that,  in  1890,  a  second 
Salon  was  opened  in  the  Galerie  des  Beaux  Arts  (a 
building  remaining  from  the  Exhibition),   which  was 


280     THE   THIRD   FRENCH    REPUBLIC 

situated  in  the  Champ  de  Mars ;  and,  presiding  over  it, 
was  a  Society  composed  of  Fellows  and  Associates, 
each  Associate  being  entitled  to  send  in  one  picture  or 
piece  of  sculpture  without  submitting  it  to  the  Com- 
mittee of  Inspection,  while  Fellows  were  allowed  to 
send  in  six  works  of  any  kind.  On  the  other  hand, 
medals  and  awards  of  every  sort  were  suppressed. 
Meissonier  was  the  first  President  of  the  Society, 
the  Vice-Presidents  being  the  heads  of  each  section. 
In  the  course  of  the  nineties  other  Salons  came  into 
existence,  one  being  the  '  Independants,'  open  to  those 
whose  art  theory  and  practice — good  or  bad — were 
such  as  to  exclude  them,  voluntarily  or  involuntarily, 
from  the  two  larger  associations.  Private  galleries 
also  became  more  numerous,  in  which  special  exhibits  of 
one  or  more  artists  were  being  almost  constantly  held. 

Painting,  during  the  decade,  in  so  far  as  it  evolved, 
followed  the  lead  of  the  symbolists,  impressionists  and 
pointillists,  although  some  of  these  last,  like  Camille 
Pissarro,  already  mentioned,  and  Maurice  Denis,  so 
full  of  mysticism  in  his  panels  of  the  months,  his 
'  Verger '  and  '  Dormeuse,'  abandoned  their  peculiar 
colour-stippling  for  the  older  sweep  of  the  brush. 

Georges  Seurat  and  Paul  Signac  were  protagonists 
in  the  Pointillist  school,  the  former  dying  in  the  early 
nineties,  after  finishing  his  amusing  '  Dimanche  a  la 
Grande  Jatte,'  '  Parade  de  Cirque '  and  '  Baignade  '  and 
his  seascapes  of  '  Grand  Camp,'  '  Honfieur,'  etc.,  with 
their  pure  skies  and  milky  atmosphere.  Paul  Signac's 
pointillism  is  more  marked  in  canvases  representing 
'  Matin,'  '  Soir,'  '  Brise,'  '  Calme,'  and  even  exaggerates 
the  manner,  yet  reveals  an  accurate  vision  of  surfaces 
and  a  faculty  of  painting  form  in  movement. 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND   ART     281 

The  talent  of  Fantin-Latour,  Renoir  and  Eugene 
Carriere  is  too  personal  to  be  classed  in  a  school,  save 
as  creating  one.  Carriere  reduced  colour  to  its  simplest 
expression  on  his  palette ;  and  sought  to  realize  sculp- 
tural effects  in  painting  by  the  almost  exclusive  use  of 
chiaroscuro.  Some  of  these  are  extraordinary  ;  they 
create  a  new  perfection.  He,  however,  undoubtedly 
carried  to  an  excess  the  darkness  of  his  backgrounds 
and  the  indistinctness  of  his  modelling.  On  many  of 
his  pictures  the  figures  are  ghosts  rather  than  flesh- 
and-blood  human  beings.  Fantin-Latour  and  Renoir 
put  into  their  portraiture  a  profound  science  of  design 
and  colour,  and  prove  their  consummate  skill  in 
composition  and  character  delineation,  standing  out 
from  the  crowd  as  great  craftsmen  in  this  difficult 
branch  of  art.  With  them  Degas  should  be  placed, 
more  material  in  his  interpretation,  but  of  equal  verity. 

A  pointillist  who  came  into  notice  in  this  period, 
with  his  '  Vertu  et  Vice,'  was  Henri  Martin,  whose 
large  allegorical  tableaux  have  since  become  popular. 
More  diffuse  in  his  composition,  he  has  a  finer 
pointillism  than  that  of  Van  Gogh — an  erratic  genius 
and  short-lived,  who  sculptured  his  landscapes  at  the 
same  time  that  he  painted  them,  and,  in  spite  of 
crudities  that  shock,  made  neo-impressionism  yield 
some  of  its  most  striking  performances. 

Among  the  older  artists,  Benjamin  Constant  gave,  in 
1892,  his  'Paris  conviant  le  monde  a  ses  fetes'; 
Detaille,  in  the  same  year,  his  '  Sortie  de  la  Garnison 
de  Huningue.'  In  1894,  Jean-Paul  Laurens  produced 
his  « Pape  et  Empereur,'  while  Roll,  Gervex  and  Puvis 
de  Chavannes  went  on  with  their  decorative  painting 
for  the  Hotel  de  Ville. 


282     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

Water-colours  had  a  pleasing  exponent  in  Henri 
Riviere ;  pastels  in  Cheret.  Engravers  were  repre- 
sented by  not  only  their  doyen  Bracquemond,  but 
others  such  as  Henri  Guerard,  the  husband  of  Eva 
Gonzales,  Auguste  Lepere,  a  modern  Debucourt, 
whose  speciality  was  in  wood  and  whose  ruling  quality 
was  strength.  Then  there  were  Odillon  Redon,  with 
his  superb  lithographs  and  drawings  in  Rodin's  style ; 
Mademoiselle  Mary  Cassatt,  with  her  exquisite  dry- 
points,  and  Lucien  Pissarro,  the  son  of  Camille,  with 
his  etchings  of  peculiarly  archaic  savour. 

In  sculpture,  Rodin  was  more  than  ever  the  over- 
powering individuality,  though  banned  by  the  conven- 
tionalists. His  '  Baiser '  and  the  Balzac  monument — 
the  latter  refused  by  the  Committee  of  Patronage  on 
account  of  its  originality — were  two  of  his  chief  pieces 
of  statuary  during  the  period.  Not  a  few  other  monu- 
ments executed  by  well-known  artists  were  erected  to 
celebrities  before  the  close  of  the  century :  one  to 
Emile  Augier,  by  Barrias,  in  front  of  the  Odeon ; 
one  in  the  Louvre  Gardens  to  Meissonier,  who  died 
in  1901,  by  Mercie,  Paris  modelled  that  of  Danton, 
placed  in  the  Boulevard  Saint  Germain  ;  Verlet,  that  of 
Guy  de  Maupassant,  in  the  Pare  Marceau ;  Puech, 
that  of  Leconte  de  Lisle,  in  the  Luxembourg  Gardens. 
The  Balzac  statue  was  taken  up  by  Falguiere  and 
hastily  finished  before  the  end  of  the  nineties.  It 
stands  now  in  the  Avenue  Friedland,  a  poor  piece  of 
work  compared  with  his  earlier  achievement,  which 
ranks  high,  much  poorer  than  his  '  La  Rochejaquelin,' 
produced  during  the  same  period. 

In  1894,  Auguste  Cain,  the  animal  sculptor,  died. 
Not  so  great  as  Barye,  he,  nevertheless,  had  vigour  and 


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RODIN 
From  the  Portrait  by  J.  E.   BLANCHE 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND   ART     283 

expression,  as  is  seen  by  specimens  of  his  carving  in  the 
Tuileries  and  the  Trocadero  Gardens.  A  successor  in 
this  branch  of  the  statuary  art  was  Fremiet,  whose 
orang-outangs  of  Borneo  were  exhibited  in  1895. 

Of  the  younger  men,  one  who  excelled  by  the  depth 
of  sentiment,  especially  of  regret  and  grief,  which  he 
was  able  to  make  his  marble  and  bronze  express,  was 
Bartholome.  A  funeral  group  of  two — the  man  ac- 
companying the  woman  to  the  tomb — at  present  in 
Pere  Lachaise  cemetery,  came  from  his  chisel  in  the 
decade,  and  has  since  been  universally  admired  for  its 
simple  grace  and  pathos.  Perhaps  the  truth  of  the 
modelling  is  less  than  its  charm  ;  but  the  thing  is  a 
masterpiece  all  the  same.  Charpentier,  Lenoir,  Bour- 
delle  were  also  rising  talents,  but  of  the  school  that 
sought  for  its  effects  through  the  faithful  reproduction 
of  nature.     They  will  be  met  with  again. 


XII 

LITERATURE,   SCIENCE   AND   ART  SINCE    1900 

Perhaps  the  most  prominent  characteristic  traits  of 
recent  literary  production  in  France  are  its  wider 
interests,  its  greater  assimilation  of  foreign  influences 
and  its  more  considerable  exhibition  of  feminine  talent. 
It  is  true  that  such  traits  are  not  peculiar  to  France. 
All  over  the  world  the  same  widening  of  horizons  is 
visible ;  the  study  of  foreign  languages  has  become  a 
universal  necessity,  owing  to  the  more  frequent  relations 
of  countries  with  each  other ;  and  the  more  thorough 
education  of  women,  together  with  the  growth  of 
'  feminism,'  is  a  phenomenon  no  longer  noticeable  in  one 
latitude  or  longitude  only.  But  yet  French  literature 
in  the  past,  especially  in  fiction  and  the  drama,  has 
admitted  the  foreign  element  with  less  readiness  than 
to-day,  partly,  no  doubt,  as  feeling  itself  self-sufficing, 
and  partly  too  from  a  patriotism  that  was  not  without 
a  certain  narrowness.  Translations  into  French  are 
still  fewer  than  those  from  French  into  other  languages, 
mainly,  it  would  seem,  because  publishers  are  timid  and 
live  too  much  on  their  standard  authors.  However,  the 
movement  is  in  progress.  Not  only  are  such  nearer, 
celebrated  writers  as  Rudyard  Kipling,  Spencer,  Swin- 
burne, Hardy,  Wells,  and  more  distant  ones  such  as 
Edgar  Allan  Poe,  Emerson,  Tolstoy,  Ibsen,  translated, 

284 


LITERATURE,   SCIENCE,  AND   ART     285 

but  a  fair  number  of  others  that  are  popular  in  their 
respective  countries. 

The  same  is  true  of  the  stage.  Indeed,  Wagner  had 
not  to  wait  till  the  end  of  the  century.  After  con- 
siderable resistance,  for  he  was  not  tender  towards  the 
French,  the  admirers  of  his  music  succeeded  in  getting 
tranquil  and  appreciative  audiences  for  first  one  and 
then  another  of  his  pieces.  In  the  representation  of 
Shakespeare's  dramas,  the  difficulties  were  of  another 
kind.  Translators  who  had  previously  rendered  him 
into  French  had  dealt  too  freely  with  his  text,  so  that 
he  had  been  rather  adapted  than  interpreted.  Mon- 
sieur Antoine,  beginning  at  his  own  theatre  and  con- 
tinuing at  the  Odeon,  changed  all  this ;  and  audiences 
were  able  to  see  King  Lear  and  Julius  Cassar  played 
exactly  as  they  would  if  they  were  in  London  or  Strat- 
ford-on-Avon.  Moreover,  the  invitation  of  foreign 
companies  of  actors  became  more  frequent,  succeeding 
to  the  older  practice  of  inviting  foreign  *  stars ' ;  and 
plays  like  The  Second  Mrs.  Tanqueray,  The  Monkey's 
Paiv,  of  Jacobs  (dramatized),  and  Barry's  Peter  Pan 
crossed  the  Channel. 

The  eminence  of  French  women  in  literature  is  more 
of  a  transformation  and  a  renascence  than  something 
new.  Ever  since  the  times  of  the  Hotel  de  Rambouillet 
and  before,  there  has  been  a  tradition  of  feminine 
literary  excellence  in  France,  now  and  again  manifested 
in  women  writers  of  great  talent,  Madame  de  Sevigne, 
Madame  de  Stael  and  George  Sand  for  example,  and 
oftener  in  salons  where  conversation  and  verbal  criti- 
cism supplanted  or  supplemented  the  pen.  And  the 
tradition  was  not  wanting  even  in  the  earlier  years  of 
the  Republic.      For  a  number  of  years,  the  salon  of 


286     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

Madame  Adam,  the  talented  editress  of  the  Nouvelle 
Revue,  was  frequented  by  an  elite  of  people  famous  in 
letters,  politics  and  art.  But  the  modern  woman  pro- 
fessional writer,  winning  her  laurels  in  competition 
with  the  stronger  sex,  was,  until  within  the  last  few 
years,  a  rarity  compared  with  what  is  found  in  England 
and  America.  During  the  two  previous  decades,  such 
women  as  Madame  Henry  GreVille,  known  by  her  novels 
of  Russian  life,  Arvede  Barine,  by  her  critical  studies, 
J.  Marni  and  Gyp  (la  Comtesse  M artel),  by  their 
lighter  stories  and  sketches,  Severine,  by  her  earnest 
journalism,  Daniel  Lesueur  (Mile.  Jeanne  Loiseau)  by 
her  novels  and  poetry,  produced  a  body  of  literary 
work  remarkable  for  its  varied  excellence.  These 
examples  have  been  followed ;  and,  at  present,  there 
is  an  increasing  amount  of  feminine  writing  that 
rivals  in  every  respect  with  that  of  men. 

One  woman  novelist,  Marcelle  Tinayre,  belongs 
more  properly  to  this  decade.  A  few  years  ago  the 
Revue  de  Paris  published  her  Maison  du  Peche,  a 
masterpiece  both  by  its  composition  and  style,  which 
at  once  gave  its  author  celebrity.  A  later  book, 
La  Rebelle,  had  hardly  the  same  success.  But  Mar- 
celle Tinayre  is  young,  and  may  very  well,  if  she 
lives,  attain  the  rank  of  a  George  Sand. 

Since  1900,  some  of  the  older  novelists  have  died, 
including  Andre  Theuriet  and  Zola,  the  latter  after 
publishing  his  Travail,  a  continuation  of  his  new 
Gospels.  Anatole  France,  instead  of  composing  stories 
like  his  delightful  Rotisserie  de  la  Reine  Pedauque,  has 
preferred  to  devote  himself  more  to  shorter  tales 
satirical  and  socialistic  in  tendency,  though  his  Roman 
Comique  is  a  more  rounded  and  a  longer  work ;  and 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND   ART     287 

has  besides  completed  his  fine,  critical  history  of  Joan 
of  Arc.  Loti  and  J.  H.  Rosny  continue  their  fiction, 
but  also  attempt  history,  the  former  relating  Les 
dernier s  jours  de  Pekin,  the  latter,  the  Anglo-Boer 
War.  The  brothers  Paul  and  Victor  Margueritte, 
working  together  like  the  Rosnys,  give,  after  their 
historical  novel,  Lc  Desastre,  histories  of  the  war  and 
Commune,  and  a  new  sort  of  child's  story,  Zette  and 
some  others.  Paul  Bourget  deviates  further  into  the 
novel  with  a  theory,  composing  his  JEtape,  with  its 
still  diminished  interest  and  increased  mental  squint. 
Rod,  in  his  Eau  Courante,  shows  the  same  sobriety 
as  in  his  previous  fiction ;  and  Rene  Bazin,  a  younger 
contemporary  who  sprang  into  sudden  celebrity,  brings 
out  his  Oberle  and  Terre  qui  meurt  in  which  he  happily 
exploits  a  vein — the  sentiment  of  nature — which  has 
not  been  made  the  most  of  by  the  majority  of  French 
novelists.  These  two  books  contain  delineations  of 
character  both  powerfully  and  yet  simply  made,  and 
local  colouring,  too,  that  is  adequate  without  being 
overdone.  A  later  novel  of  his,  Ble  qui  live,  is 
inferior  altogether,  the  essential  qualities  of  the  story 
being  swamped  by  the  effort  to  point  a  moral.  Paul 
Adam  with  his  Ruse  and  Serpent  noir,  and  Prevost 
with  his  Scorpion,  uphold  their  reputation  while  not 
adding  much  to  it.  In  fact,  except  in  some  new 
authors1  books  dealing  for  the  most  part  with  subjects 
of  the  technical,  pathological  and  risky  kind — 
Muhlfeld's  Associee,  J.  Antoine  Nau's  Foree  ennemie 
and  Willy's  Claudine  series— the  novel,  save  in  the  case 
of  one  or  two  authors,  hardly  rises  above  an  ordinary 
level.  One  reason  of  this,  perhaps,  is  that  writers  of 
fiction  practise  it  only  intermittently,  monopolized  or 


288     THE   THIRD    FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

too  frequently  tempted  by  other  species  of  literature 
in  which  they  succeed.  This  is  the  case  with  Gustave 
Geoffroy,  who,  after  distinguishing  himself  as  an  art 
critic,  and  spending  ten  years  on  his  masterpiece, 
U  Enferme — with  Blanqui  as  its  subject — wrote  his  Ap- 
prentie,  one  of  the  few  true  novels  of  the  present  epoch, 
giving  him  a  place  in  French  fiction,  like  that  of  George 
Moore  in  English. 

History  and  biography  and  art  literature  have  been 
abundant  in  the  last  few  years.  Lavisse's  History  of 
France  is  a  full  though  not  a  very  impartial  work. 
More  important  are  Masson's  studies  on  Napoleon  and 
his  Imperatrice  Marie- Louise,  Vandal's  Avenement  de 
Bonaparte,  Aulard's  Revolution  Francaise,  Hanotaux' 
Histoire  de  la  France  contemporaine,  which  unfortu- 
nately has  so  far  been  brought  up  only  to  the  end 
of  its  earlier  years,  Rambaud's  FListoire  de  la  Civili- 
sation contemporaine  en  Finance.  To  these  may  be 
added  a  number  of  books  dealing  with  the  history  of 
other  countries,  of  which  Reclus'  Empire  du  Milieu 
may  be  mentioned  and  Muntz's  Florence  et  la  Toscane. 

To  the  history  of  French  literature  itself,  most  of 
the  greater  critics  have  contributed  much,  either  in 
series  of  articles  or  in  books  which  contain  valuable 
information.  Besides  Faguet's  recent  volume  on  the 
subject,  Rene  Doumic's  Etudes  sur  la  litter ature 
francaise  and  Lintilhac's  Theatre  scrieux  du  Moyen 
Age  are  fair  specimens  of  such  work,  while  Chevrillon, 
a  nephew  of  Taine,  has  written  on  Kipling  and  other 
English  authors.  Mary  Duclaux,  herself  an  English- 
woman married  to  a  French  savant,  has  published  in 
French  an  interesting  book  entitled  Les  grands 
ecrivains  d Outremanche,  and  Emile  Boutmy,  his  Essai 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND    ART     289 

(Tunc  psychologic  du  peuple  anglais  and  Elements  dune 
psychologie  du  peuple  amcricain. 

As  representative  examples  of  biography  and 
souvenirs — some  of  them  autobiography — may  be  men- 
tioned Lanson's  Voltaire,  a  conscientious  study, du  Bled's 
Societe  francaise  du  16e  au  20e  siecle,  Sarcey's  Quarante 
ans  de  theatre  and  Mistral's  Memoires  et  Recits. 
Mistral  is  a  personage  apart,  being  one  of  the  few 
literary  survivors  of  the  disappearing  Provencal  tongue, 
a  bard  who  can  still  sing  in  the  old  Langue  d'oc. 
Daudet  has  given  a  pleasant  sketch  of  him  in  the 
Lettres  de  mon  Moulin.  Of  the  writers  on  art, 
Roger  Marx,  the  able  editor  of  the  Gazette  des  Beaux 
Arts,  is  a  good  type.  His  criticisms  of  Rodin's  sculpture 
and  Sevres  modelling  are  the  best  that  can  be  read  on 
the  subject.  Marcel's  Peinture  J'ranfaise  au  19e  siecle 
is  a  useful  aid  to  the  appreciation  of  this  branch  of 
French  activity ;  and  Mauclair's  books  and  articles  on 
recent  developments  in  French  painting  come  from  an 
intelligent  lover  of  art. 

On  looking  at  the  poets,  one  sees  that  the  beginning 
of  the  century  has  thinned  the  ranks  of  the  Parnassians. 
Sully  Prudhomme,  Heredia  and,  last  of  all,  Coppee 
have  gone.  But  a  youthful  generation  has  more  than 
taken  the  place  of  the  disappearing  elders.  Rene  Ghil, 
Herold,  Barbusse  (Catulle  Mendes'  son-in-law),  Bataille 
and  Fernand  Gregh  are  some  of  the  new-comers — 
symbolists  and  non-symbolists — who  have  cultivated 
the  Muse  with  various  talent  and  mood.  The  last- 
mentioned  obtained  recognition  and  fame  in  an 
amusing  manner.  It  was  in  1896.  Paul  Verlaine  had 
just  died ;  and  the  newspapers  and  reviews  were 
publishing  eulogies  on  the  deceased  author  of  Sagesse. 


290     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

Among  the  eulogists  were  Gaston  Deschamps,  the 
literary  critic  of  the  Temps,  and  Gregh,  who,  in  his 
article  in  the  Revue  de  Paiis,  added  a  short  poem  of 
his  own  entitled  Menuet,  with,  however,  a  mention 
of  its  being  his,  not  Verlaine's.  Later  in  the  year, 
Monsieur  Deschamps  published  a  volume  of  his 
literary  studies,  including  his  article  on  Verlaine,  with 
whose  writings  he  was  badly  acquainted ;  and,  thinking 
to  embellish  his  criticism,  he  hastily  looked  through 
a  number  of  other  articles  on  the  poet,  Gregh 's  among 
the  rest ;  he  noticed  the  Menuet,  and  transferred  it, 
under  the  impression  it  was  Verlaine's,  accompanying 
it  with  a  few  lines  of  praise,  to  the  effect  that  it  was 
a  masterpiece.  Of  course,  Monsieur  Gregh  hastened 
to  correct  the  error,  which  turned  to  his  advantage, 
since  everybody  was  anxious  to  learn  more  of  him ; 
and  he  was  at  once  able  to  find  a  reading  public  for 
his  Maison  de  V  Enfance,  and  secured  a  prize  from  the 
Academy  into  the  bargain.  His  JBeaute  de  vivre  was 
published  in  the  first  year  of  the  present  century ;  and 
contains,  as  the  previous  work,  some  pieces  of  very 
considerable  merit. 

Barbusse  is  rather  Parnassian  than  symbolist,  as 
indeed  is  Gregh.  Bataille,  who  is  also  a  dramatist,  is  the 
poet  of  inanimate  things,  which,  in  his  Chambrc  blanche, 
he  clothes  with  a  sentiment  that  renders  them  interest- 
ing and  often  pathetic.  Herold,  a  son  of  the  famous 
musician,  is  a  savant  as  well  as  a  poet ;  and  his  verse, 
without  being  pedantic,  savours  of  his  knowledge.  An 
echo  of  his  father's  music  resounds  in  his  lines.  Certain 
of  his  poems — Les  Chevaleries  sentimentales  and  Au 
hasard  des  cliemins — are  resplendent,  reminding  one,  as 
has  been  said,   of    blond  virgins  with  pearls  in  their 


LITERATURE,   SCIENCE,  AND   ART     291 

golden  hair  and  with  rings  set  with  precious  stones  on 
their  ringers. 

Rene  Ghil  is,  or  at  least  tries  to  be,  the  Wagner 
of  poetry.  He  would  fain  combine  in  his  work  all  the 
forms  of  art — the  literary,  the  musical,  the  picturesque 
and  the  plastic.  His  verse  is  also,  in  a  manner, 
orchestral,  endeavouring  to  gather  into  a  musical  drama 
— words  being  the  musical  notes — the  whole  of  human 
interests.  The  Dire  du  Mieux,  Le  Voeu  de  vivre,  Le 
Dire  des  Sangs,  Le  Devenir  are  examples  of  his 
expression  of  a  conception  which  is  worthy  of  sym- 
pathy, if  not  of  unqualified  approval.  Such  verse  is 
a  prophecy  of  the  future. 

Charles  Guerin  and  Francis  Jammes  have  a  simpler 
ambition,  the  former  in  his  Cceur  solitaire,  and  the 
latter  in  his  De  VAngelus  de  VAube  a  VAngelus  du 
Soir,  aiming  at  lyric  effects,  Guerin  exhibiting  likewise 
a  vein  of  melancholy  philosophic  thought. 

On  the  stage,  Brieux,  Hervieu,  Lavedan,  Donnay 
and  Francois  de  Curel  are  still  foremost  exponents  of 
the  piece  a  these ;  the  first  in  his  Remplac  antes  and 
Avaries  dealing  with  grave  problems  affecting  marriage; 
the  second,  in  such  pieces  as  his  tragedy  Rcveil,  bringing 
duty  into  conflict  with  the  passions  of  love  and 
ambition.  Lavedan's  Duel  treats  a  similar  theme  in 
serious  comedy,  with  a  happy  ending ;  and  Donnay 's 
Paraitre  flagellates  modern  society's  follies ;  while  de 
Curel's  Coup  dAile,  like  his  earlier  Nouvelle  Idole, 
gives  us  a  continuation  of  his  philosophic  and  social 
moralizing.  A  younger  dramatic  author,  Bernstein, 
has  in  the  last  few  years  acquired  celebrity  by  a  series 
of  plays — Le  Bereail,  La  Rafale,  La  G-riffe,  Le  Voleur 
— remarkable  for   their    technique    recalling    that    of 


292     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

Scribe,  Dumas  and  Augier,  with  qualities  of  rapidity 
and  clearness  that  please  the  public.  They,  however, 
lack  the  finer  emotion  contained  in  some  of  the  best 
pieces  of  such  playwrights  as  Bataille. 

To  the  names  of  good  and  popular  actors  and 
actresses  already  mentioned  in  previous  decades  may 
be  added  a  few  more  representative  ones — Mayer, 
Laugier,  Berr,  Guitry,  Taride,  Lerant,  de  Max,  with 
Mesdames  Cecile  Sorel,  Suzanne  Despres,  Simone  Le 
Bargy,  Marthe  Brandes,  Marthe  Regnier ;  and,  on  the 
operatic  stage,  Renaud,  Dufranne.  with  Mesdames 
Breval  and  Heglon. 

At  the  two  Operas,  Saint-Saens  counts  a  fresh  success 
with  his  Barbares ;  Massenet,  with  Griselidis  and 
Cherubin  ;  Camille  Erlanger,  with  his  Fils  de  VEtoile  ; 
Xavier  Leroux,  with  La  Reinc  Fiamette.  Isidore  de 
Lara's  Messaline  and  Rabaud's  Fille  de  Roland  are  also 
important  contributions  to  operatic  music. 


In  the  French  scientific  movement  of  the  early 
twentieth  century,  while  great  names  are  not  wanting, 
the  phenomenon  of  chief  importance  is  its  closer 
co-operation  with  similar  movements  abroad  for  the 
achievement  of  results  needing  world-wide  combination. 
As  Emile  Picard  says  in  his  Science  Moderns  et  son 
etat  actuel :  "  It  seems  that  henceforth,  in  scientific  life 
as  in  social,  association  will  impose  itself  more  and 
more.  Such  and  such  task  can  only  be  effected  by  the 
collaboration  of  a  mathematician  and  a  physicist ;  such 
other  will  require  the  mutual  help  of  a  chemist  and  a 
physiologist.  .  .  .  We  have  recently  seen  enterprises 
undertaken  which  call  for  a  large  number  of  investi- 


Photograph:    Bulloz 

GOUNOD    AS    A    YOUNG     MAN 

From  a  Sketch  by   INGRES 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND   ART     293 

gators  in  order  to  succeed.  There  is  the  map  of  the 
heavens,  at  which  all  the  observatories  of  the  globe  are 
working.  There  is  the  International  Geodesic  Associ- 
ation, which  discusses  all  questions  referring  to  the 
form  of  the  terrestrial  sphere.  And,  last  but  not  least, 
with  wider  embrace  and  more  unlimited  scope,  there  is 
the  International  Reunion  of  Academies,  which,  sup- 
ported by  the  various  principal  Societies  of  Learning, 
is  beginning  to  organize  collective  research.  Its  first 
session  in  Paris,  in  the  year  1901,  marks  perhaps  a  date 
in  the  annals  of  scientific  labour." 

It  probably  marks  more,  to  wit,  the  initiative  of  an 
ultimate  co-operation  in  social  and  political  life  that 
shall  federate  all  the  nations  of  the  earth. 

Meanwhile,  it  is  pleasant  to  notice  how,  in  the  latest 
conquest  of  the  air,  France  has  served  as  a  connecting 
link  between  other  peoples.  Santos  Dumont,  the 
Brazilian,  and  Farman,  the  Englishman,  both  pioneers 
in  heavier-than-air  aviation,  constructed  their  machines 
in  France,  with  the  aid  of  French  mechanics.  And 
Wilbur  Wright,  the  American,  had  no  sooner  perfected 
his  invention  than  he  found  a  French  market  for  its 
exploitation.  Moreover,  with  these  foreigners,  there 
are  rivals  like  Delagrange  and  Bleriot  to  uphold  the 
national  honour,  and  to  remind  us  that,  from  the  days 
of  the  brothers  Montgolfier,  France  has  furnished  a 
long  line  of  experimentalists  in  this  field,  with  Jobert, 
Penaud,  Hureau  de  Villeneuve,  Richet  and  Tatin,  as 
true  discoverers  of  the  art  of  flying. 

Among  physicists  devoting  themselves  to  the  study 
of  electricity,  Dr.  Arsene  d'Arsonval  holds  a  prominent 
place  by  his  successful  applications  of  electricity  to 
therapeutics.     In  bacteriology,  Dr.  Roux,  at   present 


294     THE    THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

Director  of  the  Pasteur  Institute,  has  earned  well- 
merited  fame  by  his  anti-diphtheric  serum.  There  are 
several  princes  of  surgery,  none,  however,  more 
celebrated  than  Doyen,  who  has  made  cancer  treat- 
ment a  speciality.  In  mental  science,  Bergson's 
restatement  of  psychology  has  created  respectful 
attention  not  only  in  France  but  abroad.  Another 
expert  in  problems  of  mind  and  matter  is  Gustave  Le 
Bon,  who  has  exposed  in  his  Evolution  de  la  matiere 
and  his  Psychologic  dc  I  Education  some  remarkable 
theories  worthy  of  consideration.  Lapparent,  an  elder 
in  geology  ;  Bonnier  and  Flahaut,  original  investigators 
in  botany ;  Renault  and  Deperet,  untiring  workers  in 
fossil  palaeontology ;  and  Lebesque  and  Baire,  of  the 
younger  generation  of  mathematicians,  are  a  few  of 
France's  illustrious  toilers  in  the  modern  scientific 
domain.  # 

The  movement  of  painting  since  the  commencement 
of  the  twentieth  century,  with  its  ever-increasing  list  of 
famous  names,  a  few  only  of  which  can  be  mentioned, 
has  continued  to  be  largely  influenced  by  one  or 
another  phase  of  impressionism.  Common  to  most 
of  the  artists  that  practise  this  style  is  the  hatred  of 
the  picture  of  arrangement  and  a  resolute  sacrificing  of 
the  grace  of  detail  to  the  exact  observation  of  values, 
a  resolute  seeking  through  the  decomposition  of  colour 
tones  to  obtain  the  vibration  of  light  itself.  Guillaumin, 
Henry  Moret  and  Maxime  Maufra — the  last  in  his  sea- 
scapes— have  more  peculiarly  striven  to  attain  these 
results.  In  portraiture,  impressionism  endeavours  ever 
to  secure  character,  exactitude  and  the  bloom  of 
colour.     Renoir  is  one  of  the  chief  exponents  of  such 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND   ART     295 

efforts.  His  '  Sous  la  tonnelle  '  and  '  Sur  la  terrasse ' 
are  studies  of  values  in  the  open  air  which  have  been 
carried  far.  He  often,  however,  lacks  precision  in  his 
modelling.  Compensating  this,  the  warm  blood  is 
visible  under  the  nacre  of  the  skin ;  in  his  power  of 
colour  and  personality  of  touch  he  rivals  with  Monet. 

Some  of  the  elder  men  seem  to  have  evolved,  Tony- 
Robert  Fleury  in  his  most  recent  work  and  Carolus 
Duran  also.  In  the  latter's  '  Marchand  d'Eponges ' 
there  is  a  franker  study  of  nature.  Other  of  the 
elders  perfect  the  manner  in  which  they  first  excelled. 
Detaille  paints  his  '  Vers  la  Gloire ' — now  in  the 
Pantheon — a  really  fine  military  composition  full  of 
life  and  fire  and  superb  colouring.  His  '  Chant  du 
Depart,'  with  soberer  hues,  has  similar  energy  and 
movement.  Besnard  supplies  the  restored  Comedie 
Francaise  with  a  ceiling  on  which  Apollo  salutes  with 
his  rays  the  statues  of  the  poets.  Roll,  a  lover  of 
iridescent  tints,  gives  in  his  '  Jeunesse  en  Rose '  the 
powdery  effects  produced  by  the  colouring  of  objects 
in  the  open  air.  His  latest  decorative  painting  is  a 
panel  entitled  '  Vers  la  Nature,'  a  canvas  of  masterly 
execution,  in  which,  amidst  a  vague  landscape,  irradi- 
ated with  slowly  dawning  light,  Science  raises  her 
torch  to  draw  men  onward  in  the  path  of  knowledge. 
Jean-Paul  Laurens  finishes  his  picture  representing 
'  Le  Desastre,'  and  creates  also  an  ideal  glorification  of 
Beethoven's  music,  with  the  great  composer's  face  and 
figure  somewhat  superhumanized.  In  some  of  these 
vast  allegories,  even  artists  of  talent  do  not  always  show 
to  advantage.  For  example,  Mademoiselle  Dufau,  in 
a  canvas  intended  for  one  of  the  halls  of  the  Sorbonne, 
attempts   a    personification   of    Mathematics,    Radio- 


296     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

activity  and  Magnetism  that  puzzles  and  astonishes 
more  than  it  pleases.  There  is  a  similar  lack  of  central 
interest  in  Henri  Martin's  huge  canvas,  entitled  '  Les 
Faucheurs,'  in  spite  of  its  main  group  of  disciples 
gathered  round  a  master  who  has  the  outward  pre- 
sentment, yet  imperfect,  of  Anatole  France. 

Among  the  elders,  too,  Jules  Lefebre  exposes  his 
rather  overdone  'Lady  Godiva';  Beraud  treats  his 
*  Belles  de  Nuit '  and  '  Defile  '  in  his  own  realistic  way  ; 
Aime  Morot  and  Flameng  paint  portraits  recalling 
the  eighteenth-century  artists  ;  Dinet,  the  Orientalist, 
gives  his  'Printemps'  and  '  Tristesses ' ;  Lhermitte  shows 
changing  scenes  of  nature  in  the  '  Sortie  du  Troupeau ' 
and  the  '  Moisson  dans  la  Vallee ' ;  while  one  painter, 
Paul  Renouard,  previously  known  by  his  clever 
sketches  of  scenes  in  London,  produces  an  equally 
striking  series  of  drawings — each  line  indicative  of 
characteristic  action  and  speech — made  during  the 
Dreyfus  trial  at  Rennes.  Subsequently  he  composes 
a  picture  based  on  the  same  incident  and  successfully 
fixing  the  chief  actors  that  played  their  part  in  it. 

Of  the  younger  men,  Le  Sidaner,  after  painting  his 
visions  of  the  He  de  France  and  of  Venice,  with  his 
happy  inspirations  of  colour-contrast,  follows  Monet's 
example  and  goes  to  London,  where  he  reproduces 
from  his  palette  the  banks  of  Thames  in  their  varying 
aspects,  the  dome  of  St.  Paul's  amidst  a  slight  mist 
tinged  with  the  sun's  rose-red,  Trafalgar  Square  gilded 
by  an  autumn  setting  sun,  and  Hampton  Court  with 
its  sombre  reds  and  greens  and  its  trim  gardens. 
Simon  Bussy,  a  pupil  of  Gustave  Moreau,  in  his  '  Lourd 
crepuscule  d'ete,'  for  instance,  reveals  qualities  of  the 
first  order  by  his  use  of  light,  the  psychological  inter- 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND   ART     297 

pretations  of  his  figures  and  his  harmonizing  of  all  the 
parts  of  his  composition.  Cottet  and  Lucien  Simon 
increase  their  reputation  as  '  lntimists  ' ;  the  former,  who 
has  a  certain  resemblance  to  Jordaens,  completes,  with 
his  *  Douleur,'  the  celebrated  series,  *  Au  pays  de  la 
Mer ' ;  the  latter  manifests  in  one  of  his  last  canvases, 
'  Ceremonie  religieuse  a  Assise,'  the  determination 
common  to  the  vigorous  modern  school  to  admit  the 
element  of  emotion  only  through  the  verity  of 
technique. 

No  mention  has  hitherto  been  made  of  the  portraitist 
Jacques  Blanche,  hardly  a  junior  yet  hardly  a  senior, 
once  a  disciple  of  Whistler  and  Manet,  whose  evolu- 
tion has  been  slow  and  painful.  After  a  quarter  of 
a  century  spent  in  experiment  and  research,  he  has  con- 
verted his  early  facility  of  brush  into  a  personal  style 
of  sober  power.  Some  of  his  English  portraits,  notably 
that  of  Thomas  Hardy  the  novelist,  and  some  of  his 
French  ones,  including  his  '  Berenice '  series,  illustrate 
this  development  best,  above  all,  when  they  are 
compared  with  his  ;  Supper  at  Emmaus '  and  even 
with  the  'Thaulow  Family,'  in  the  Luxembourg 
Museum. 

If  one  or  two  other  names  may  be  added,  those  of 
Daniel  Vierge,  the  water-colourist  and  draughtsman, 
and  of  Louis  Legrand,  a  pupil  of  Felicien  Rops,  who 
is  the  premier  aquafortist  of  the  day,  ought  not  to  be 
forgotten.  Then  there  are  Lobre,  Wery,  Prinet  and 
Ernest  Laurent,  who  are  lntimists;  Forain  the 
caricaturist ;  Steinlen,  the  talented  sketcher  of  Paris 
life  in  all  its  forms,  with  philosophy  and  humour  in  his 
drawing ;  and  Veber  and  Guillaume,  painters  of  great 
talent  in  the  amusing  kind  of  picture. 


298     THE   THIRD    FRENCH    REPUBLIC 

Monumental  sculpture  in  Paris,  as  elsewhere,  has 
been  considerably  augmented  since  1900.  Rodin's 
'  Penseur '  has  found  a  site  on  the  Place  du  Pantheon, 
and  his  '  Victor  Hugo '  is  at  last  about  to  be  placed  in 
the  gardens  of  the  Luxembourg,  a  more  characteristic 
representation  of  this  nineteenth-century  giant  of 
literature  than  the  statue,  by  Barrias,  erected  in  the 
beginning  of  the  decade.  Alphonse  Daudet's  sitting 
figure,  by  Saint-Marceaux,  occupies  a  sheltered  nook 
in  the  groves  of  the  Champs  Elysees ;  and  Mercie's 
'Alfred  de  Musset,'  poorly  executed,  intrudes  on  the 
footpath  outside  the  Comedie  Francaise.  A  more 
successful  effort  of  the  same  sculptor  is  the  bust  of 
1  Armand  Silvestre,'  with  its  basement  group  of  grace- 
ful nymphs,  standing  amidst  the  verdure  of  the  Cours 
la  Reine.  Saint-Marceaux'  '  Alexandre  Dumas  fils ' 
has  been  appropriately  erected  on  the  Place  Males- 
herbes,  opposite  the  monument  of  the  elder  Dumas. 
'  Chevreul,'  the  physicist,  re-created  by  Fagel,  can  be 
seen  in  the  Jardin  des  Plantes ;  Injalbert's  '  Auguste 
Comte '  on  the  Place  de  la  Sorbonne  :  and  Bartholdi's 
group  in  souvenir  of  the  '  Aeronauts  of  the  Siege  of 
Paris '  has  been  suitably  reared  in  the  suburb  of  Neuilly. 

Of  the  statuary  exhibited,  in  recent  Salons,  by  well- 
known  sculptors,  Picards  '  George  Sand '  and  Man- 
eel's  '  Alfred  de  Musset '  form  a  pleasing  and  striking 
contrast,  both  being  works  of  merit,  with  delicate  and 
puissant  modelling.  Bernstamm's  '  Pailleron '  is  accom- 
panied by  a  beautifully  chiselled  Muse  reproducing 
the  features  of  the  comedienne  Samary.  Bartholome 
gives  an  '  Adam  and  Eve '  discovering  their  nakedness, 
which  calls  to  the  spectator's  mind  the  Eve  sung  by 
the  poet  Samain  in  his  Chariot  cVOr.     Jules  Desbois 


LITERATURE,   SCIENCE,  AND   ART     299 

has  a  '  Femme  a  FArc '  fashioned  with  all  the  fine  skill 
this  artist  manifests  in  his  miniature  figures,  and  which 
his  long  experience  in  Sevres  modelling  seems  to  have 
rendered  perfect.  Rodin  continues  his  series  of  busts, 
English,  American  and  French,  and  his  curious  studies 
of  portions  of  the  human  frame,  dominated  too  often 
by  his  admiration  of  the  Greek  style.  Bourdelle. 
increasing  his  power  and  originality  of  execution,  pro- 
duces his  '  Pallas  Athene,'  '  Hercules  '  and  '  Dana'i'ds,' 
and,  more  recently  still,  his  noble  bust  of  the  painter 
Ingres.  Some  other  men  meriting  notice  are  Lenoir, 
with  his  '  Saint  Vincent  de  Paul ' ;  Camille  Lefevre, 
with  his  figures  of  women  and  children ;  Carles,  with 
his  bust  of  President  Fallieres ;  Alexandre  Charpen- 
tier,  as  always,  full  of  energy ;  Pierre  Roche,  subtle 
yet  bold,  delicate  and  captivating.  Loysel,  of  the 
Artistes  Francais,  and  Cros,  recently  dead,  have  gained 
renown  in  the  new  century.  Loysel's  '  Jeune  Femme 
au  bain,'  exhibited  in  the  1908  Salon,  was,  though 
small  in  size,  one  of  its  chief  works.  And  the  list  is 
not  nearly  complete.  In  spite  of  its  less  remunerative 
character,  the  statuary  art  has  many  followers,  not  a 
few  of  whom  produce  excellent  pieces. 

One  satisfactory  feature  of  art  exhibitions  in  late 
years  is  the  readmission  of  the  decorative  arts  into  their 
midst.  Too  long  there  has  been  a  divorce  between 
painting  and  sculpture,  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  these 
terms,  and  the  same  crafts  practised  in  connection  with 
architecture  and  adornment ;  and,  in  consequence,  the 
former  have  lost  touch  with  real  life  and  the  latter  have 
lacked  inspiration.  Historically,  the  reunion  is  an  im- 
portant thing  to  notice.  On  the  future  of  art,  both  near 
and  remote,  its  influence  cannot  fail  to  be  beneficial. 


XIII 

PARIS 

The  fall  of  the  Commune  marked  the  end  of  the 
power  of  the  capital  to  conjure  up  revolutions  at  will. 
A  new  order  of  things  arose  with  the  new  Paris,  in 
which  armed  insurrection  against  the  authority  of 
Government  had  no  chance  of  success,  and  barricades 
were  not  more  than  so  much  useless  furniture  to  be 
relegated  to  the  lumber-room  of  the  past.  The  lesson 
was  well  learnt,  as  was  shown  when  the  Boulangist 
Fronde  sounded  the  tocsin  of  revolt.  There  was  some 
cheering  and  excitement,  but  no  response  in  action. 
Besides,  the  capital  now  had  more  serious  and  more 
profitable  matters  to  attend  to.  Peaceably  possessed 
of  almost  every  right  and  privilege  which  the  Com- 
mune of  1871  had  striven  to  obtain  by  forcibly  separa- 
ting from  the  rest  of  France,  she  found  herself  engrossed 
by  her  own  resurrection  and  transformation,  of  which 
circumstances  were  making  something  bigger  than  any 
one  could  have  dreamed  at  the  close  of  the  siege. 
Compared  with  the  Paris  of  to-day,  the  capital  of  the 
restored  Monarchy  and  Second  Empire  was  merely  a 
country  town. 

Sardou,  in  his  preface  to  Georges  Cain's  Coins  de 
Paris,  tells  of  this  city  of  his  childhood,  where,  on  the 
central  boulevards,  a  single  omnibus  plied  between  the 
Madeleine  and  the  Bastille  every  quarter  of  an  hour 

300 


PARIS  301 

and  there  was  no  danger  of  being  run  over  by  a  horse, 
where  the  Palais  Royal  was  the  rendezvous  of  poli- 
ticians, clubmen,  gazetteers,  open-air  orators,  stock-job- 
bers and  '  Merveilleuses,'  where  the  Rond-Point  of  the 
Champs  Elysees  was  considered  a  boundary,  where  all 
the  streets  were  narrow,  but,  to  compensate,  delicious 
old  gardens  were  plentiful.  The  faubourgs  then  were 
real  faubourgs.  Near  the  Rue  Chaillot,  the  Avenue  of 
the  Champs  Elysees  was  bordered  on  the  left  with  a 
broad  turf  embankment.  '  In  the  fine  weather  season,' 
says  Monsieur  Sardou,  '  I  have  seen  diners  cutting  up 
their  melon  and  leg  of  mutton  there,  with  the  naive 
joy  of  city  folk  enjoying  the  purer  field  air.' 

The  change  began  while  Louis  Napoleon  was  on  the 
throne,  and  when  the  era  of  steam,  machinery  and  ap- 
plied science  had  determined  an  influx  of  population 
from  the  country  to  the  town.  But  Baron  Haussmann's 
scheme  for  the  embellishment  and  hygienization  of  the 
capital  was  only  in  an  initial  stage  of  execution  when 
the  war  broke  out ;  and  the  ravages  of  the  siege  and 
Commune  were  such  that  the  work  to  be  done  was 
really  a  fresh  creation.  Not  having  Aladdin's  magic 
lamp,  the  Town  Council  were  compelled  to  proceed  as 
best  they  could  amid  the  stir  of  the  city's  daily  life. 
Forty  years  have  not  sufficed  for  the  whole  project  to 
be  realized. 

One  of  the  Baron's  interrupted  tasks  that  was  taken 
up  first  and  finished  was  the  cutting  of  the  Avenue  de 
l'Opera.  The  network  of  narrow  streets  was  cleared 
from  round  the  Butte  du  Moulin,  streets  whose  names 

Orties,  Petits  Champs,  Moineaux,  Mulets— recalled 

the  former  rusticity  of  the  place.  It  was  a  ground 
full  of  biographic  interest.     Voltaire  had  lived  in  the 


302     THE   THIRD    FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

4 

Rue  Moliere,  Corneille,  in  the  Rue  d'Argenteuil,  and 
Bossuet  had  died  in  the  Rue  Clos  Gorgeau.  The 
Boulevard  Saint-Germain  was  completed  next,  intrud- 
ing on  the  tranquillity  of  the  ancient  aristocratic  fau- 
bourg of  that  name  and  bringing  a  busy  thoroughfare 
into  its  midst.  Later  came  the  Rue  Reaumur,  the 
Avenue  de  la  Republique,  the  Boulevard  Raspail, 
which  last  is  still  in  the  making ;  these  and  other 
arteries,  radiating  from  centre  to  circumference,  passed 
through  what  used  to  be  quarters  practically  distinct 
and  shut  off  from  each  other ;  and,  as  they  passed, 
carried  in  light  and  air  and  a  general  improvement  of 
sanitary  conditions. 

In  the  way  of  architectural  restoration,  besides  the 
partial  or  entire  reconstruction  of  what  the  Commune 
had  injured  or  destroyed,  the  effort  was  immense.  To 
match  the  vaster  Sorbonne  that  was  rising  in  the  place 
of  the  hostel  founded  in  the  thirteenth  century  by 
Robert  de  Sorbon,  confessor  to  King  Louis  IX,  the 
venerable  and  famous  Jesuit  College,  which  had  become 
the  Lycee  Louis  le  Grand,  was  rebuilt  on  its  flank  in  the 
widened  Rue  Saint-Jacques,  the  old  clock-tower  and 
sundial  alone  being  preserved,  as  was  also  Richelieu's 
Chapel  in  the  University.  Then  the  College  de  France 
was  enlarged,  and  the  School  of  Medicine  with  its  fine 
modern  library  of  over  fifty  thousand  volumes,  its  one 
hundred  and  seventy-eight  dissecting-rooms,  and  its 
Museum  Halls  filled  with  priceless  collections.  In  the 
Saint-Jacques  neighbourhood  rose  likewise  a  new  Law 
School ;  in  the  Luxembourg,  a  new  School  of  Phar- 
macy ;  and  additional  galleries  to  the  Museum  of 
Natural  History,  in  the  Jardin  des  Plantes.  Along 
the    Boulevard    Saint-Michel,    the    Palais    de   Justice 


PARIS  303 

and  the  Sainte-Chapelle  were  completed.  The  Catho- 
lics erected  on  the  heights  of  Montmartre  the  Basilica 
of  the  Sacre  Cceur.  On  the  right  bank  of  the  Seine, 
the  ruins  of  the  Tuileries  were  metamorphosed  into 
the  Jardin  du  Carrousel,  and  the  pavilions  of  Flore  and 
Marsan  were  renovated ;  while,  on  the  left  bank,  the 
mouldering  Cour  des  Comptes  vanished  to  make  room 
for  the  handsome  Quai  d'Orsay  railway  station,  rival- 
ling with  the  Gare  Saint-Lazare  and  the  Gare  de 
Lyons,  which  had  clad  themselves  too  in  new  and 
ampler  vesture. 

More  quietly  than  the  Bastille,  the  Roquette,  Mazas 
and  Sainte-Pelagie  prisons  were  demolished.  Hence- 
forward, the  prisons  of  the  capital  were  to  be  outside 
the  walls.  And  these  walls  themselves  were  con- 
demned. No  longer  able  to  contain  the  city's  teeming 
population,  in  spite  of  the  five-storied  dwelling-houses 
now  running  up  to  seven  and  eight,  they  had  lost  their 
utility  for  military  purposes  and  served  only  to  artifici- 
ally cut  off  quarters  like  Neuilly  which  had  grown  into 
integral  portions  of  Paris. 

From  year  to  year,  facilitated  by  the  multiplying  of 
broad  roads,  there  was  an  invading  rush  of  locomotion. 
Tramways  and  railways  pushed  their  way  further  into 
the  heart  of  the  town ;  and,  accompanying  them,  the 
flash  of  the  cycle  everywhere  with  its  contingent  of  fair 
sex  riders  whose  bloomer  costumes  at  first  amused  the 
badaud.  In  turn,  the  cycle  was  crowded  out  by  the 
motor-car,  an  invention  that  coincided  with  the  arrival 
of  cosmopolitanism  and  the  definite  disappearance  of 
the  Parisian  types  recorded  by  the  pencils  of  Gavarni 
and  Daumier.  Each  universal  exhibition  left  behind 
it  an  increase  of  exoticism.     German  brasseries,  Italian 


304     THE    THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

confetti,  English  mail-coaches,  American  magasins  ob- 
tained their  letters  of  naturalization ;  and.  at  last,  the 
London  policeman's  staff  was  imported,  to  be  employed 
as  a  wand  in  regulating  traffic. 


Luckily  for  this  huge  agglomeration  of  individuals 
and  interests,  the  law  of  April  1871  gave  the  city  a 
central  legislative  and  administrative  parliament  of  its 
own,  which  has  always  shown  itself  equal  to  the 
growing  demands  made  upon  it. 

The  Paris  Municipal  Council  is  composed  of  eighty 
members,  four  being  elected  by  each  arrondissement, 
i.e.  one  by  each  quarter.  The  Council  chooses  its  own 
President  and  two  Vice-Presidents,  while  the  Govern- 
ment is  represented  by  the  Prefet  de  la  Seine,  who  has 
his  residence  in  the  Town  Hall  or  Hotel  de  Ville. 
Since  1896,  the  Councillors  have  had  a  four  years' 
mandate  ;  and,  for  the  last  twenty  years,  their  sittings 
have  been  public,  as  also  their  voting,  though  a  secret 
scrutin  may  be  taken  at  the  request  of  any  three  mem- 
bers. The  Prefet's  role  is  an  advisory  one,  at  times 
extending  to  a  warning  that  the  Council's  action  is  an 
encroachment  on  Government  prerogative,  and  may  be 
annulled. 

Six  great  Commissions  divide  up  the  administrative 
work.  The  first  occupies  itself  with  financial  matters 
and  taxation  ;  the  second,  mostly  with  what  Zola  in 
one  of  his  novels  calls  '  Le  Ventre  de  Paris  ' — markets, 
slaughter-houses,  material,  etc.  ;  the  third,  with  the 
roads ;  the  fourth,  with  education  and  the  fine  arts ; 
the  fifth,  with  the  relief  of  the  poor  and  public  pawn- 
shops ;  and  the  sixth,  with  sanitation,  sewage,  water, 


PARIS  305 

etc.  Each  Commission  has  twelve  members,  except 
the  third  and  fourth,  which  have  sixteen.  The  Budget 
and  certain  business  of  a  general  character  are  discussed 
and  decided  by  the  whole  Council ;  and  a  few  special 
Committees  exist  for  things  of  intermittent  importance 
only.  Some  idea  may  be  gained  of  the  city's  rapid 
expansion  by  comparing  its  receipts  in  1875  with  those 
of  twenty-five  years  later.  From  two  hundred  and 
fifteen  million  francs  they  rose  to  above  three  hundred 
millions.  And  its  liabilities  progressed  still  faster. 
To-day  they  amount  to  considerably  more  than  four 
milliard  francs,  which  means  over  one  hundred  and  sixty 
millions  sterling. 

Commercially  and  industrially,  the  capital  has 
profited  by  her  transformation  under  the  Republic. 
Besides  the  introduction  of  the  cycle  and  motor-car 
manufactures,  and  an  impetus  given  to  every  branch 
connected  with  building,  nearly  all  the  older  trades 
have  doubled  or  trebled  their  output ;  in  first  line,  that 
of  so-called  Paris  articles — toys  and  knick-knacks, 
artificial  flowers,  coiffures,  fans,  umbrellas  and  sun- 
shades ;  then,  art  jewellery  ;  then,  to  quote  but  one 
more,  clothing — this  last  branch  alone  occupying  nigh 
on  half  a  million  people.  Taking  all  the  trades 
together,  the  number  of  persons  that  employ  labour 
may  be  reckoned  as  between  three  and  four  hundred 
thousand. 

This  upspring  and  spread  of  industry  in  modern  con- 
ditions have  called  into  existence  the  Bourse  de  Com- 
merce and  the  Bourse  de  Travail,  the  latter  originally 
intended  to  be  a  sort  of  Labour  Office  for  those  out  of 
work,  but  developing  soon  into  a  Club  and  Workmen's 
Parliament,  where  unadvised  utterance  at  times  was 


306     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

the  cause  of  outside  lawless  conduct.  More  enlightened 
and  useful  has  been  the  action  of  that  other  trade 
parliament — the  Paris  Chamber  of  Commerce  with  its 
thirty-six  members  elected  by  three  thousand  three 
hundred  notables  of  the  city.  They  represent  practical 
experience  and  education,  and  a  class  who,  if  lacking 
some  of  the  boldness  characteristic  of  similar  bodies 
abroad,  possess  to  an  eminent  degree  the  quality  of 
making  the  most  of  small  things.  The  example  may 
be  quoted  of  a  banker  that  returned  to  his  native 
country  after  amassing  a  large  fortune  in  South 
America  entirely  by  means  of  small  transactions  dis- 
dained by  English  bankers  established  there.  The 
active  share  taken  by  the  Paris  Chamber  of  Commerce 
in  the  instruction  of  the  young  will  be  spoken  of  in  the 
chapter  on  education.  Here  may  be  mentioned  the 
fact  that  it  is  supplemented  by  an  equally  assiduous 
commercial  pioneering  in  all  parts  of  the  world  through 
young  men  that  have  been  trained  for  the  purpose. 

In  no  small  measure  the  capital's  trade  and  business 
depend  on  the  pleasures  that  have  always  constituted 
part  of  her  reputation.  During  the  Republican  era, 
theatres,  races.  Salons,  clubs,  cafe  concerts  and  cafes 
have  all  become  more  prominent  features  of  the  city's 
life.  The  last  of  these  is  the  real  connecting  link 
betweeen  old  and  new.  The  Cafe  Procope,  which 
Piron,  Destouches  and  Voltaire  frequented,  heard  also 
the  eloquence  of  Gambetta  ;  and  the  dccheance  did  not 
deprive  the  Cafe  de  la  Regence  of  its  faithful  band  of 
afternoon  chess  players.  However,  on  the  boulevards, 
the   Imperialist  Cafe  de  la  Paix  and  the  Republican 


Photograph  :    Druet 


AT    THE    "MOULIN     ROUGE" 
From  a  Caricature  by  DE   TOULOUSE    LAUTREC 


PARIS  307 

Cafe  Frontin  disputed  the  precedence  of  the  older 
Riche,  Tortoni  and  Madrid  houses,  not  to  speak  of  the 
Foy,  Montausier  and  Corazza  of  the  Palais  Royal, 
victims  of  the  desertion  of  fashion.  The  students  kept 
to  their  Moliere,  Racine  and  Vachette  establishments 
round  the  Odeon  and  in  the  Boulevard  Saint-Michel. 
At  Montmartre,  artist  caprice  was  for  ever  creating 
some  new  vogue,  like  the  Cafe  du  Rat  Mort ;  and 
cosmopolitan  Paris  subsequently  patronized  the  Sylvain, 
Julien  and  American  Cafes,  on  the  boulevards,  where 
it  was  possible  to  go  after  exit  from  the  theatres  and 
spend  the  remainder  of  the  night. 

Except  in  the  Quartier  Latin,  where  the  Jardin 
Bullier  still  maintains  ancient  traditions,  replacing  the 
previous  Prado,  the  bal public  has  both  degenerated  and 
declined,  owing  to  the  competition  of  the  cafe  concert 
and  variety  entertainment.  At  present,  more  than 
three  hundred  of  these  cafe  concerts  furnish  the  Paris 
bourgeois  with  cheap  amusement  often  of  high  artistic 
merit ;  and,  as  the  theatres  hold  no  monopoly  against 
them,  they  can  give  their  audiences  drama  likewise. 
The  dancing,  which  has  not  declined,  is  that  of  the  stage. 
Here  the  luxury  of  spectacular  effects  has  encouraged 
a  development  of  terpsichorean  skill  affording  more 
enjoyment  to  the  beholder  than  imitations  of  Chichard's 
cancan  or  of  Mogador's  and  La  Goulue's  light  fantastic 
toe.  In  certain  music-hall  reviews,  as  in  certain 
theatrical  plays,  a  grossness  of  wit  and  licence  of  attire 
have  met  with  regrettable  toleration  from  habitues,  and 
at  length  compelled  the  interference  of  the  authorities. 
More  especially  the  exhibition  of  the  female  nude  has 
become  a  foolish  worship  among  a  section  of  the  public, 
happily  not  large,  who  drag  art  out  of  its  domain.     The 


308     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

famous  Bal  des  Quatre-z-Arts  with  its  nude  female 
dancers  was  one  manifestation  of  this  craze  ;  and  the 
modern  Godiva  issuing  on  to  and  crossing  the  street, 
out  of  pure  bravado,  amidst  a  bevy  of  admiring  male 
friends,  was  another. 

In  the  Republic's  early  years,  horse-racing  was  about 
the  only  periodical  occasion  for  great  open-air  assem- 
blies in  which  the  classes  mingled.  Though  the  supre- 
macy of  the  elder  sport  remains,  football  matches,  bicycle 
and  even  swimming  races  have  begun  to  draw  their 
throngs  of  sightseers,  with  less  damage  to  the  latter's 
pockets  than  at  the  Auteuil  and  Longchamp  courses, 
notwithstanding  the  Government  surveillance  of  the 
Pari-Mutuel. 

Fringing  on  Parisian  pleasures,  in  part  distinct 
from  them,  in  part  confused  with  them,  is  the 
round  of  the  year's  feasts  and  celebrations,  an 
ancestral  inheritance.  Time  has  affected  these  more 
lightly,  but  they  have  not  altogether  escaped  change. 
Lent  brings  its  Jour  des  Rameaux  or  Paques  fleuries, 
when  the  appearance  of  box-sprigs  everywhere  heralds 
the  arrival  of  spring.  With  April  and  May  come  the 
great  Salons, — the  gathering  of  artist  clans  and  the 
discovery  of  fresh  reputations  in  sculpture  and  painting. 
Easter  also  brings  the  people's  Ginger  Bread  Fair  pre- 
ceded by  the  Foire  aux  Jambons  and  the  Foire  a  la 
ferraille.  In  June,  society  and  demi-society  meet  and 
take  conge  in  the  Fete  des  Fleurs  and  at  the  Grand 
Prix,  before  flying  to  sylvan  shades  and  seaside  casinos, 
and  the  capital  is  abandoned  to  its  workaday  inhabi- 
tants, the  dead  season,  and  the  invasion  of  foreigners. 
The  autumn  Salon,  at  the  commencement  of  October, 
is  the  prelude  to  the  reopening  of  schools  and  Parlia- 


PARIS  309 

ment.  November  is  inaugurated  by  the  Toussaint, 
when  the  cemeteries  fill  with  families  seeking  out  their 
dead  to  pay  them  respect  and  honour.  The  custom  is 
traditional,  but  there  is  life  in  it.  At  Christmas  and 
the  New  Year,  the  boulevards  are  covered  with  their 
petites  baroques,  an  opportunity  for  the  small  inventor 
to  publish  his  genius  and  sell  his  wares.  They  are 
supportable  encumbrances,  coming  but  once  a  year, 
and  probably  do  no  harm  to  the  regular  shopkeepers, 
if  they  do  no  good.  Perennial,  yet  confined  to  the 
exterior  boulevards  and  one  or  two  of  the  larger 
squares  away  from  the  city's  hum,  are  the  ambulatory 
fairs  or  wakes  that  flit  from  point  to  point  as  the  season 
advances.  The  Foire  de  Neuilly,  which  is  held  in  June 
and  July,  and  is  on  a  large  scale,  is  not  an  unmixed 
boon  for  the  inhabitants  living  on  the  avenue  that  leads 
from  the  Porte  Maillot  to  the  Seine.  Twenty  years 
ago,  the  Lent  Carnival  had  still  its  popularity  of  yore  ; 
but,  with  the  passing  of  the  century,  it  has  retreated  to 
the  more  Bohemian  regions  of  the  Quartier  Latin  and 
Montmartre,  bequeathing  the  boulevards  its  Jours  Gras 
showers  of  confetti  as  a  keepsake. 

The  Parisian  population  in  the  main  is  a  laborious  as 
well  as  a  pleasure-loving  one ;  and  among  the  hard 
workers,  whatever  their  position,  there  is  a  good 
average  of  sterling  qualities  in  civic,  family,  and  indi- 
vidual relations.  Severe  criticisms  have  been  passed 
by  some  French  writers  upon  the  bourgeoisie,  and 
by  others  on  the  people  or  lower  class.  But,  since 
criticism  is  usually  caricature,  each  separate  accusa- 
tion needs  reducing,  before  the  defects  complained  of 
can  be  estimated  fairly.  Labour  will  engender  vices 
in  the  struggle  for  life,  but  here  they  have  the  excuse 


310     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

of  necessity,  which  is  absent  in  the  case  of  the  leisured, 
not  to  say  idle,  aristocracy,  among  whom,  however,  the 
active  pursuit  of  virtue  seems  but  little  in  favour. 

The  typical  aristocrat,  who  spends  six  or  seven 
months  in  Paris  and  the  remainder  of  the  year  in  the 
country,  is  a  grasshopper  imprisoned  in  an  anthill. 
Shut  out  from  the  diplomatic  career  by  his  non- 
acceptance  of  the  Republic,  refractory  to  every  other 
profession  except  that  of  arms,  and  generally  unwilling 
to  work  for  the  examination  which  alone  would  permit 
of  his  adopting  the  army  as  a  profession,  he  finds  him- 
self at  the  age  of  manhood  with  nothing  to  do  besides 
taking  his  constitutional  drive  or  ride,  consulting  his 
tailor,  paying  visits,  frequenting  balls  and  amusing 
himself  at  the  club.  If  he  belongs  to  the  Legitimist 
nobility,  he  will  probably  enter  the  Cercle  Agricole, 
which  is  more  exclusive  than  the  Jockey,  yet  less 
capricious  in  its  elections,  providing  the  candidate's 
title  is  authentically  ancient.  The  Jockey  or  the 
Cercle  de  la  Rue  Royale  will  only  attract  him  in 
preference,  if  he  be  a  sportsman  or  a  gambler.  Of 
allowable  aristocratic  failings  he  has  his  share — loose- 
ness in  sexual  morality,  remissness  in  paying  trades- 
men's debts ;  and  compounds  for  them  by  strict 
attention  to  the  outward  ceremonies  of  religion  and  a 
devotion  to  the  temporal  aspirations  of  the  Church — 
attention  and  devotion  which  do  not  prevent  him  from 
marrying  a  Jewish  heiress,  whenever  he  has  the  chance. 
Of  the  warrior  ardour  of  his  ancestors  he  has  preserved 
scarcely  anything  but  the  memory.  By  leading  an 
existence  so  void  of  serious  purpose,  he  has  lost  the 
notion  of  reality,  which  may  account  for  the  Baron 
Christiani's  prowess  against  President  Loubet.     Be  it 


PARIS  311 

granted  the  Baron "s  scutcheon  dates  no  further  back 
than  Napoleon  I ;  still,  Bonaparte's  peerage  was  based 
on  deeds  of  valour. 

And  the  men  that  earned  it  were  not  a  few.  The 
first  Emperor  created  9  princes,  32  dukes,  388  counts, 
1090  barons,  48,000  chevaliers.  After  this  what  could 
the  Restoration  do  but  imitate  ?  During  the  reign  of 
Louis  XVIII,  the  peerage-roll  was  increased  by  17 
dukes,  70  marquises,  83  counts,  62  viscounts,  215 
barons,  and  785  titles  of  simple  nobility.  Following 
on,  the  July  Monarchy  made  3  dukes,  19  counts,  17 
viscounts,  and  59  barons ;  and  Napoleon  III,  12  dukes, 
19  counts  and  viscounts,  and  21  barons. 

From  the  moment  when  the  Republic  was  pro- 
claimed, none  of  these  titles,  nor  yet  those  of  the 
older  Royalty,  had  any  legal  value.  However,  they 
have  flourished  more  than  ever  in  their  fictitious  char- 
acter, each  child  of  a  noble  family  extending  the 
particule  to  his  own  descendants,  and  additional  re- 
cruits being  supplied  by  patent  papal  instead  of  by 
patent  royal.  While  abolishing  hereditary  dignities, 
the  Republic  conserved  the  honorary  ones  already 
existent  and  created  others.  The  red  ribbon  and 
rosette  belong  to  the  Legion  of  Honour,  which,  with 
its  ascending  grades  from  Chevalier  to  Grand  Com- 
mander, was  formerly  a  military  order.  It  is  now 
conferred  as  a  high  honour,  without  reference  to  em- 
ployment. Similarly  the  blue  ribbon  and  rosette  of  the 
Officier  d'Academie  and  the  Officier  de  1' Instruction 
publique  used  to  be  reserved  for  members  of  the  learned 
professions.  At  present,  they  are  accorded  for  the 
more  numerous  public  services  that  do  not  call  for  the 
higher  distinction. 


312     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

The  Parisian  bourgeois,  as  much  as  his  provincial 
brother,  is,  as  a  rule,  fond  of  these  decorations,  which 
stimulate  his  ardour  in  civic  effort.  His  desire  for 
them  is  a  harmless  foible,  and  his  pride  in  obtaining 
them  is  at  least  as  justifiable  as  that  felt  by  the  pos- 
sessor of  a  title  who  has  done  nothing  beyond  being 
born  to  it.  Perhaps,  among  the  criticisms  too  harshly 
and  sweepingly  expressed  by  Octave  Mirbeau,  himself 
a  bourgeois,  upon  his  own  class,  there  has  been  and 
still  is,  though  in  a  diminishing  degree,  a  certain  truth 
in  the  following  lines :  "  When  travelling,  we  French 
never  tire  of  satirizing  the  German,  English,  Italian 
families  we  meet  with  on  the  way,  families  that  often 
give  us  examples  of  physical  health  and  good  educa- 
tion. With  fierce  joy  and  imbecile  pride,  we  take 
pleasure  in  carping,  always  to  our  advantage,  on  what 
we  style  their  absurdities,  their  blemishes,  which,  may 
be,  are  only  virtues.  .  .  .  But  it  is  understood  that 
nothing  is  fine,  elegant,  sprightly,  witty,  nothing  is 
intelligent  that  is  not  France.  Great  men  of  other 
countries  are  mere  copyists,  sorry  plagiarists.  Dickens 
owes  everything  to  Alphonse  Daudet,  Tolstoy,  to 
Stendhal  .  .  .  The  whole  of  Ibsen  is  in  the  Revoke  of 
Villiers  de  ITsle-Adam.  .  .  .  What  would  Goethe  have 
been  without  Gounod  and  Thomas  ?  .  .  .  And,  as  for 
Henri  Heine,  the  less  said  the  better  of  that  vile  spy 
pensioned  by  Guizot."  This  naive  and  narrow  patriot- 
ism, which  after  all  is  not  exclusively  French,  is  an 
anachronism  in  days  when  each  morning's  newspaper 
gives  a  lesson  in  universal  geography  and  history. 

The  Parisian  artisan  class  differs  somewhat  from  that 
of  other  localities,  being,  on  the  one  hand,  more 
heterogeneous,  on  the  other  more  perfectly  organized. 


PARIS  313 

Here  the  individual  is  also  more  than  elsewhere  under 
the  control  of  the  Labour  Confederation,  which  enlists 
him  nolens  volens,  and  dictates  to  him  the  terms 
whereon  alone  he  may  work.  His  organization  and 
discipline  have  permitted  him  to  treat  with  the  powers 
that  be  and  to  get  a  good  deal  of  legislation  to  his 
liking,  yet  have  not  freed  him  from  the  iron  law  of 
economic  progress — is  it  progress  ? — which,  if  it  puts 
within  his  reach  many  things  previously  monopolized 
by  the  wealthy,  has  crowded  him  into  unhealthy 
proximities,  submitted  him  to  the  stress  of  forces  that 
not  even  his  syndicate  can  protect  him  against,  and 
weakened  him  physically  and  morally.  The  irritated 
feelings  fostered  by  such  circumstances  are  largely  re- 
sponsible for  the  so-called  apachism  or  hooliganism 
that  has  become  so  unpleasantly  prominent  in  the 
capital  of  late.  The  apache  and  the  anarchist  bomb- 
thrower  are  both  lunatics,  but  the  former  has  no 
method  in  his  madness. 

Still  more  than  that  of  other  great  cities,  the  popula- 
tion of  the  French  capital  would  seem  to  be  an 
epitome  of  the  divers  sub-nationalities  of  the  country. 
The  Norman,  the  Auvergnat,  the  Toulousain,  the 
Breton,  the  Alsatian  are  to  be  met  with  in  every 
station  of  life,  drawn  from  their  native  provinces 
through  the  channels  of  art,  business  or  trade.  This 
gives  an  astonishing  variety  of  physiognomy  and 
character,  making  it  difficult  to  discover  common  dis- 
tinsfuishincr  features,  unless  accent  and  idiom  be 
admitted.  The  Parisian  born  and  bred  has  a  throat 
pronunciation  of  the  r  that  is  practically  peculiar  to 
him  ;  and  he  abuses  the  past  indefinite  in  a  way  that 
his  southern  brother  disapproves.     Indeed,  in  spite  of 


314     THE   THIRD   FRENCH    REPUBLIC 

the  capital's  intellectual  supremacy,  the  purest  French 
of  tradition  is  spoken  nearer  to  Blois  on  the  banks  of 
the  Loire  than  to  the  banks  of  the  Seine  round  the 
He  de  Saint-Louis.  But  it  should  be  added  that  the 
French  spoken  in  Paris,  even  by  the  people,  is  not  a 
vulgar  idiom,  exception  made  for  special  argots.  What- 
ever be  the  cause,  there  is  nothing  to  shock  the  educated 
ear  in  the  ordinary  speech  and  pronunciation  of  the 
artisan  class.  The  same  cannot  be  said  of  the  pro- 
vinces, where  a  very  wide  difference  exists  between  the 
language  of  the  peasant  and  the  chatelain.  North  and 
south  and  east  and  west  amalgamate  easily  in  the 
central  crucible  of  the  national  life.  Little  jealousies 
crop  up  at  times,  more  especially  between  the  men  of 
the  north  and  the  men  of  the  south ;  but  these  have 
no  deep  significance,  save  perhaps  in  politics,  a  profes- 
sion that  appears  to  have  favoured  southerners. 
Similar  jealousies  show  themselves,  intermittently, 
against  Protestants  and,  permanently,  against  Jews, 
both  being  accused  of  exercising  too  great  an  influence 
in  public  matters  and  of  lacking  patriotism.  These 
accusations  and  the  prejudices  prompting  them,  which 
are  not  well  grounded,  are  resuscitations  of  the  ancient 
odium  thcologicum  that  produced  the  Saint  Barthelemy 
massacre  ;  and,  unfortunately,  as  the  Dreyfus  Affair 
proved,  they  are  deliberately  used  to  stir  up  civil  strife, 
and  can  now  and  again  arouse  popular  passion  to  in- 
explicable aberrations  of  conduct. 

# 

One  consequence  of  the  capital's  aggrandizement 
has  been  the  tightening  of  the  conditions  of  living. 
Rent,  food,  clothing  have  all  grown  dearer  under  the 
Republic.     The  rise  of  the  first  has  especially  affected 


PARIS  315 

flats  occupied  by  the  middle  classes  of  modest  fortune, 
who,  in  every  arrondissement  near  to  the  centre,  must 
pay,  if  they  are  to  have  anything  comfortable,  three 
and  four  thousand  francs  a  year.  And  the  accommo- 
dation at  that  is  not  large.  The  richer  middle- class 
apartment  ranges  from  five  to  ten  thousand  francs  or 
more,  while,  in  the  Champs  Elysees  and  the  Avenue 
du  Bois  de  Boulogne  quarters,  flats  and  mansions 
mount  to  twenty-five,  thirty  thousand,  and  still  higher 
figures.  Of  the  older  moderate-rented  flats  from  a 
thousand  to  two  thousand  francs,  there  are  scarcely  any 
reproductions  in  newly  erected  blocks  of  buildings  ;  and 
the  workman's  flat  is  being  eliminated  from  all  parts 
but  the  east  and  south  and  relegated  to  the  outskirts 
of  the  city.  Here  and  there,  in  forgotten  nooks  and 
corners — -for  Paris  has  its  squalors  as  well  as  its  splen- 
dours— the  poor  herd  together  in  single  rooms  where 
they  have  scarcely  the  space  to  turn  or  breathe,  paying 
for  such  miserable  accommodation  prices  that  would 
procure  a  good  cottage  in  the  country.  The  providing 
of  good,  cheap  dwellings  for  the  numerous  families 
whose  earnings  are  only  three  and  four  francs  a  day — 
and  less— is  a  problem  in  a  city  where  ground  has 
tripled  and  quadrupled  in  value  during  the  last  quarter 
of  a  century.  Something,  however,  has  been  done 
towards  its  solution  by  the  new  metropolitan  system  of 
railways,  which,  since  the  opening  of  a  first  line  in 
1900,  has  spread  in  every  direction.  The  uniform 
second-class  fare  of  three  sous  for  any  distance,  and 
four  sous  return  ticket  taken  before  nine  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  allow  the  humbler  working-class  to  live  much 
further  from  their  occupations  than  was  formerly  pos- 
sible.    When   the   fortifications   shall   have   been   de- 


316     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

molished  and  the  broad  girdle  of  land  round  Paris  is 
thrown  for  disposal  on  to  the  hands  of  the  Municipal 
Council,  the  best  use  they  could  make  of  it  would  be 
to  build  model  workmen's  flats,  with  vast  intervening 
public  gardens,  and  let  the  apartments  at  a  reasonable 
rent  to  the  poorer  toilers  of  the  city. 

In  articles  of  daily  use  and  consumption,  the  rise  of 
value  has  chiefly  affected  fuel,  meat,  butter  and  milk. 
Top  prices  in  coal  reach  seventy-five  francs  a  ton,  in 
meat,  two  francs  fifty  centimes  a  pound,  and  in  butter, 
nearly  three  francs  fifty.  Bread,  vegetables,  fruit  and 
eggs  have  remained,  on  the  whole,  at  the  rates  quoted 
a  generation  ago,  though  bread  is  still  too  dear.  Some 
benefit  would  accrue  to  shallow  purses,  if  direct  local 
taxation  were  substituted  for  the  octrois  or  town  dues, 
which  are  imposed  only  for  revenue  purposes  and 
protect  no  trade  or  industry.  The  suppression  of  the 
wine  dues  some  few  years  since  was  the  beginning  of 
a  reform  which  has  not  been  continued. 

Paris  fashions  under  the  Republic — at  any  rate  those 
for  ladies — are  too  well  known  the  world  over  to  need 
much  particular  mention.  They  have  been  adopted 
on  the  other  side  of  the  Channel,  whatever  their  in- 
trinsic merit,  absurd  in  the  bustle,  tree-trunk  skirt  and 
coiffure  a  la  chien,  graceful  in  the  simpler  and  ampler 
curves  of  gown,  suavely  coiled  hair  and  dainty  hat 
or  bonnet.  The  exaggeration  of  the  eighty  decade 
has  had  some  repetition  in  this  century,  exaggeration 
manifested  in  eccentricities  of  head-gear,  extinguish- 
ing the  bonnet  entirely  and  setting  up  the  reign  of 
hats  that  are  flower  gardens  when  they  are  not  ani- 
mated trays. 


Photograph  ;   Bulloz 


PUVIS     DE     CHAVANNES 
By   RODIN 


PARIS  317 

As  a  return  compliment,  the  well-dressed  Parisian 
gentleman  still  patronizes  English  styles  of  tailoring 
and  dress,  the  custom  being  responsible  for  stories  of 
his  sending  linen  to  be  washed  on  the  banks  of  the 
Thames  and  turning  up  his  trousers,  even  in  fine 
weather,  because  it  might  be  raining  in  London. 
This  does  not  prevent  him  from  preferring  a  longer 
and  narrower  chaussure,  his  foot  not  being  so  broad  as 
an  Englishman's — so  'tis  said. 

Of  recent  importation  is  the  English  tea-room,  now 
quite  a  Paris  institution.  In  every  portion  of  the 
city  frequented  by  Briton  and  American,  such  after- 
noon refreshment  lounges  tempt  the  tired  sightseer, 
flaneur  or  business-bound  pedestrian,  and  rival  with 
the  cafes  in  their  attractiveness,  though  not  displaying 
their  tables  on  the  ti'ottoir.  Less  agreeable  on  the 
tongue  than  .the  beverage  which  cheers  but  not  ine- 
briates is  the  verb  jive-o-elockcr,  which  may  be  heard 
occasionally  among  the  English  words,  sandwich, 
meeting,  leader,  football,  etc.,  naturalized  in  pronuncia- 
tion without  change  of  spelling.  True,  '  beefsteak ' 
became  '  bifteck '  before  the  Entente  Cordialc  and  the 
foundation  of  the  '  Societie  pour  la  propagation  des 
langues  vivantes.' 

In  fine,  Republican  Paris  has  gained  in  assimilative 
power,  and  has  increased  its  intellectual  importation, 
which  it  pays  for  by  liberal  exports,  without  troubling 
to  ask  who  are  its  creditors.  The  time  has  gone  by 
when  any  one  capital  could  be  the  hub  of  the  globe. 
Co-operation  is  the  utmost  that  each  and  all  can  pre- 
tend to.  If,  in  the  future,  the  fair  mistress  of  the 
Seine  will  content  herself,  as  now,  with  this  ambition, 
there  is  none  shall  say  her  nay. 


XIV 

THE   MUTUALIST   MOVEMENT 

The  French  Mutual  Help  movement,  which  is  prob- 
ably the  most  perfectly  organized  social  agency  in 
Europe,  began  life  modestly  in  the  period  immediately 
following  the  Great  Revolution  of  1789.  The  sweep- 
ing legislation  of  the  First  Republic  had  abolished 
the  divers  Corporations  and  Guilds  which  previously 
served  to  mitigate  the  evils  of  the  struggle  for  life. 
By  a  decree  of  the  17th  of  June  1791,  the  National 
Assembly  forbade  citizens  of  the  same  trade  or  pro- 
fession, the  workmen  or  companions  practising  any 
art,  to  gather  for  the  purpose  of  electing  president, 
syndic  or  secretary ;  and  forbade  too  the  keeping  of 
registers,  the  holding  of  deliberations,  the  framing  of 
rules  in  view  of  their  so-called  common  interests.  And 
yet,  in  spite  of  the  law,  the  new  mutualisme  was  born. 
At  first,  timidly,  periodic  collections  were  made  in  aid 
of  one  or  another  charitable  object.  Then,  by  degrees, 
societies  of  benevolent  intent  grew  up  in  Paris, 
Grenoble,  Bordeaux,  Lyons,  and  Marseilles,  no  fewer 
than  thirteen  of  them  between  1794  and  1806  in  the 
capital  alone.  A  kind  of  sanction  was  conferred  by 
article  291  of  the  Napoleonic  Code,  which  enacted 
that  no  association  of  more  than  twenty  persons  whose 
object  was  the  discussion  of  matters  religious,  literary, 
political,  etc.,  should  meet  regularly,  except  with  the 

318 


THE   MUTUALIST   MOVEMENT        319 

consent  of  Government  and  under  such  conditions  as 
it  should  please  the  authorities  to  impose.  After  the 
fall  of  the  Empire  and  the  restoration  of  the  Monarchy, 
this  measure  of  toleration  was  mingled  with  sympathy; 
for,  in  1821,  the  city  of  Paris  voted  a  donation  of 
fifty  thousand  francs  to  the  existing  Friendly  Societies 
on  the  occasion  of  the  baptism  of  the  Due  de  Bordeaux. 
Statistics  of  that  time  reveal  that  there  were  one 
hundred  and  twenty-four  societies  which  profited  by 
the  gift,  and  that  in  Paris  as  many  as  ten  thousand 
workmen  belonged  to  one  or  another  of  them. 

In  1835  was  passed  the  first  Act  of  Parliament 
mentioning  by  name  societies  of  mutual  benefit. 
Under  it  they  were  empowered  to  deposit  at  the 
National  Savings  Bank  amounts  not  exceeding  six 
thousand  francs.  This  privilege,  small  as  it  was,  gave 
a  great  impetus  to  the  movement.  Twelve  years 
after,  more  than  two  thousand  Savings  Bank  accounts 
were  held  by  the  various  sections.  A  later  Act  in  1850 
enlarged  the  powers  granted  by  previous  legislation, 
and  authorized  the  deposit  of  the  whole  of  the  funds, 
payable  to  members,  in  the  National  Savings  Bank 
at  the  rate  of  4j  per  cent  interest,  while  the  societies, 
on  certain  conditions,  were  permitted  to  receive 
legacies  and  donations  and  to  acquire  real  and 
personal  property.  But  most  progressive  of  all  was 
the  famous  law  of  the  26th  of  March  1852.  By  it, 
the  societies  gained  the  right  to  promise  pensions  to 
their  active  members — a  right  before  refused, — it  being 
stipulated  that  for  this  they  must  have  a  sufficient 
number  of  honorary  members.  As  an  encouragement 
to  the  fresh  departure,  they  were  presented  with  ten 
million  francs,  these  being  part  proceeds  of  the  sale  of 


320     THE   THIRD    FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

the  property  of  the  Orleans  family.  Now  also  the 
societies  were  divided  into  three  categories :  Free, 
Approved,  and  Recognized.  The  Free  were  to  have 
no  specific  Government  aid,  but,  on  the  other  hand, 
were  less  controlled  in  their  action.  The  Approved 
enjoyed  certain  monetary  subsidies,  with  the  added 
privilege  of  the  largest  interest  on  their  bank  deposits. 
The  Recognized  were  mostly  aggregations  of  sections 
— the  pioneers  of  a  subsequent  more  widely  embracing 
co-operation  ;  and  functioned  under  the  State's  patron- 
age, as  being  of  public  utility.  This  recognition 
bestowed  on  them  civil  personality,  with  powers  of 
purchase  and  sales  just  as  if  they  were  individuals. 

From  1852  onwards,  the  Mutualist  movement  ex- 
tended rapidly.  Before  the  close  of  the  century,  under 
the  fostering  hand  of  the  Republic  more  especially, 
the  number  of  societies  in  the  first  two  categories  was 
three  thousand  odd  and  eight  thousand  respectively ; 
and  the  membership,  three  hundred  and  fifty  thousand, 
and  one  million  four  hundred  thousand ;  while  the 
capital  amounted  to  forty-five  million  francs,  and  two 
hundred  million.  Corresponding  to  this  increased 
membership  and  wealth,  was  the  constant  growth  of 
initiative.  The  work  achieved  or  attempted  by  the 
three  classes  was  such  as  to  call  for  further  Parlia- 
mentary sanction ;  and,  in  1898,  the  law  of  the  1st  of 
April  defined  and  regulated  their  present  activity. 
"  Mutualist  Societies,"  says  the  Act,  ki  are  provident 
associations  proposing  to  attain  one  or  more  of  the 
following  objects :  To  assure  to  their  participating 
members  and  members'  families  help  in  the  case  of 
sickness,  injury,  or  infirmity ;  to  constitute  for  them 
retiring  pensions ;  to  contract  for  their  benefit   indi- 


THE   MUTUALIST   MOVEMENT        321 

vidual  or  collective  insurance  against  old  age,  death, 
or  accident ;  to  provide  for  the  funeral  expenses  of 
those  that  have  been  active  members,  to  afford  aid 
to  all  surviving  members  of  their  families.  These 
societies  may  specialize  themselves  and  open  employ- 
ment offices,  organize  technical  classes,  undertake 
insurance  against  accidents  happening  during  daily 
occupation,  and  distribute  sums  of  money  to  those 
out  of  work." 

Lastly,  the  Act  of  1898  made  it  lawful  for  the 
societies  to  combine  to  any  extent  they  might  wish. 
Already,  in  regions  where  the  Mutualist  propaganda 
had  flourished  most — the  Seine,  Nord,  Gironde,  and 
Bouches  du  Rhone  departments — some  of  the  sections 
had  grouped  themselves  under  a  central  control  for  the 
carrying  out  of  certain  objects  which,  alone,  they  were 
less  able  to  accomplish.  The  grouping  tendency,  how- 
ever, would  probably  have  taken  much  longer  to 
produce  results,  had  not  the  question  of  Old  Age 
Compulsory  Pensions  been  pushed  forward  in  Parlia- 
ment by  the  Socialists,  who  desired  a  uniform  State 
scheme  universal  in  its  application,  whereas  the 
Mutualists,  who  since  1852  had  been  perfecting  their 
more  elastic  voluntary  method,  were  strongly  of  opinion 
that  this  latter  was  cheaper  and  could,  with  proper 
Government  patronage,  be   made  the  more  effective. 

In  presence  of  what  seemed  a  grave  danger  to  their 
organization,  the  heads  of  the  Mutualist  movement, 
Messieurs  Caze,  Lourties,  Cheysson,  Mabilleau,  and 
some  others,  redoubled  their  efforts  for  the  con- 
solidation of  the  sections  and  their  unions  throughout 
the  country,  deeming  that  the  cause  dear  to  them 
might  be  gained  if  pleaded  by  a  completely  federated 


322     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

band  of  associations.  These  efforts  were  not  in  vain. 
In  June  1902,  a  formal  proposition  of  federation  was 
brought  forward  at  a  meeting  of  the  Grand  Council  of 
the  Bouches  du  Rhone ;  and,  five  months  after,  at 
a  constitutive  and  representative  meeting  of  the 
various  societies  held  in  Paris,  the  foundations  of 
a  National  Federal  Union  were  laid,  final  sanction 
being  given  to  the  thing  by  the  1904  Congress  of 
Nantes. 

One  sequel  of  this  National  Federation  was  the  step 
taken  by  Monsieur  Louis  Keller  in  the  direction  of  a 
still  wider  International  Union  of  Friendly  Societies  all 
over  the  world.  Invitations  were  despatched  to  the 
various  countries  ;  and  Belgium,  Austria,  Denmark  and 
Italy  at  once  replied  by  sending  delegates  to  Paris  to 
confer  with  Monsieur  Leon  Mabilleau,  the  Director  of 
of  the  Musee  Social,  and  his  colleagues.  A  committee 
was  appointed ;  and,  at  the  Liege  Exhibition  of  1905, 
where  a  Congress  was  held  on  the  Mutualist  question, 
the  project  was  discussed.  At  first,  a  proposal  of  the 
Belgian  delegates  was  voted  establishing  an  Inter- 
national Inquiry  and  Information  Bureau  which  might 
enable  Mutual  Help  associations  in  all  lands  to  co- 
ordinate their  statistics  and  see  what  was  being  done 
elsewhere.  Then,  Monsieur  Mabilleau,  speaking  in  the 
name  of  the  French  delegates,  appealed  to  the  Congress 
to  widen  the  programme  so  as  to  include  the  alliance 
principle.  His  reasoning  and  eloquence  convinced  the 
meeting ;  and  the  International  Alliance  of  Friendly 
and  Mutual  Benefit  Societies  was  formed.  As  a  factor 
in  the  creation  of  a  future  world-wide  harmony  of 
interests,  this  remarkable  achievement  is  historically  of 
the  highest  importance. 


THE    MUTUALIST   MOVEMENT        323 

Some  idea  of  the  usefulness  of  French  Mutualism 
may  be  obtained  by  paralleling  its  action  with  that  of 
the  State  Assistance  Publique,  which,  in  lieu  of  the 
British  Workhouse  system,  occupies  itself  with  the 
relief  of  the  poor.  The  Assistance  Publique  depart- 
ment costs  the  budget  annually  some  two  hundred  and 
sixty  million  francs ;  and  for  the  results  accruing  is 
notoriously  expensive.  Out  of  this  sum  about  fifteen 
millions  is  spent  in  furnishing  free  medical  attendance 
to  those  unable  to  pay  for  a  doctor.  The  Mutual  Help 
Societies  out  of  their  own  resources  spend  each  year 
about  the  same  amount  for  free  medical  attendance, 
which,  however,  is  given  under  conditions  more  accept- 
able to  those  that  benefit  by  it,  and,  on  the  whole,  is 
more  efficacious. 

The  distinctive  feature  of  Mutualism  in  France  is  its 
accentuation  of  the  social  ideal.  At  first  admitted  on 
tolerance,  this  ideal  soon  became  the  predominant 
partner  and  helped  materially  to  prepare  the  union  of  the 
sections.  These  in  the  beginning  were  heterogeneous 
and  have  since  remained  so.  Out  of  the  eighteen 
thousand  at  present  functioning,  three  thousand  five 
hundred  are  those  of  labourers,  artisans,  clerks,  doctors, 
etc. — trades  and  professions,  in  fine.  Some  sections  are 
mainly  agricultural,  determined  by  the  locality.  If 
they  had  been  content  to  provide  only  for  the  indi- 
vidual needs  of  their  members,  they  could  hardly  have 
attracted  much  outside  sympathy.  With  the  intro- 
duction of  the  social  aim,  this  sympathy  was  acquired, 
and  augmented  their  funds  by  donations  and  honorary 
subscriptions.  Thus  they  found  it  possible  to  start 
auxiliary  branches  having  some  end  in  view  of  com- 
mon profit.     Among  the  most   considerable   are   the 


324     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

MutuaUte  Materuelle,  the  Mutualitc  Scolaire,  and  the 
MutuaUte  Familiale. 

The  first,  intended  to  help  women  during  pregnancy 
and  confinement,  was  founded  in  1891,  mainly  through 
the  efforts  of  Jules  Simon,  the  statesman  and  philan- 
thropist.    Paris  led  the  way,  and  the  provinces  were 
not  long  in  imitating  the  capital's  example.     To-day, 
there  are  nearly  a  hundred  such  institutions  in  France, 
all  providing  mothers  with  a  month's  rest  at  their  con- 
finement, with  an  allowance  of  twelve  francs  a  week 
and  an  encouragement  premium  of  twenty  francs  if 
they  suckle  their  children,  and  also  with  free  attendance 
and  medicine  during  the  month.     Further,  when  neces- 
sary, the  last  month  of  pregnancy  may  be  spent  in  a 
home,  and  the  time  of  convalescence,  when  tardy,  like- 
wise.    Later  additions  were  creches  for  babies  up  to 
two  years  of  age,  pure  milk  dispensaries,  etc.     A  pay- 
ment that  does  not  exceed  a  halfpenny  a  week  entitles 
the  member  to  all  this ;  and  a  recent  modification  in 
the  rules  of  the  Society  admits  any  woman-member  of 
an  ordinary  Mutualist  section  to  equal  rights  in  the 
Mutualitc  MaterncUe,  in  return  for  a  yearly  payment  of 
one  franc.     Since  these  institutions  have  existed,  infant 
mortality  among   Mutualists   has  fallen  from  30  per 
cent  to  5  per  cent  in  Paris,  and,  in  other  localities,  the 
decline  has  been  quite  as  remarkable. 

The  MutuaUte  Scolaire  was  founded  not  so  many 
years  ago  by  Monsieur  Cave,  a  deputy  of  the  French 
Chamber,  whence  the  Societies  have  earned  the  nick- 
name Petit cs  Cave.  The  object  is  to  lessen  the 
burden  of  contributing  to  the  Old  Age  Pension  Fund 
by  an  early  entrance  into  the  Mutualist  ranks.  One 
half  of  the  scholar's  weekly  penny  subscription  is  paid 


THE   MUTUALIST   MOVEMENT        325 

into  the  Pension  Fund,  and  the  remaining  sou  into  the 
Sick  Fund.  A  membership  of  considerably  over  half 
a  million  and  annual  subscriptions  of  nearly  four 
million  francs  testify  to  the  popularity  of  the  move- 
ment, which  has  been  one  triumphal  progress  since  the 
start.  In  order  that  the  child's  membership  might  be 
preserved  during  the  period  between  his  leaving  school 
and  his  creating  a  home  of  his  own,  an  Old  Scholars' 
Mutualist  Society  was  formed,  intended  to  serve  as  a 
connecting  link  between  the  two  others,  so  that  it  is 
possible  for  the  whole  life  of  the  French  citizen  to  be 
accompanied  by  this  prudential  guardianship,  with  but 
very  little  monetary  sacrifice  on  his  part. 

The  Mutualite  Familialc,  of  which  Monsieur  Cheys- 
son  has  been  the  untiring  advocate,  is  in  the  early 
stages  of  its  development.  It  takes  in  the  whole 
family,  instead  of  its  head  only ;  and,  while  not  dis- 
couraging any  individual  member  of  it  from  separate 
contributions  in  view  of  the  future,  it  espouses  the 
cause  of  women  whose  time  and  labour  are  absorbed  by 
their  homes,  and  also  that  of  young  children  who  are 
not  at  school.  Notably,  at  Lyons,  Angers  and  Bor- 
deaux, it  has  long  been  the  custom  to  oblige  each 
active  male  member  of  a  Mutualist  section  who  is 
married  to  affiliate  his  wife  and  children,  paying  for 
them  at  a  reduced  rate.  At  Nancy,  for  example,  the 
man's  monthly  payment  being  one  franc  twenty-five 
centimes,  his  wife  is  affiliated  for  seventy-five  centimes, 
and  each  child  for  twenty-five,  with  a  maximum  of 
seventy-five  centimes,  whatever  the  number  of  children. 

A  consequence  of  these  extra-benevolent  associations 
grafted  on  to  the  parent  ones  was  to  run  up  the  lists  of 
honorary  members.      When  rich  people  saw  what  was 


326     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

being  done,  they  willingly  gave  their  money,  especially 
as  the  Mutualist  Statutes  assured  them  that,  in  the 
event  of  adverse  fortune  overtaking  an  honorary  mem- 
ber, he  would  receive  all  the  benefits  of  an  active 
member  who  had  contributed  the  same  instalments.  In 
many  societies,  indeed,  honorary  members  are  almost, 
if  not  quite,  as  numerous  as  active  ones. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  development  of  the  social 
side  of  Mutualism,  more  perhaps  than  anything  else, 
in  the  first  instance  suggested  the  combining  that  led 
to  federation.  The  sections  found  that  their  wider 
enterprise  would  be  better  tackled  if  a  number  of 
them  clubbed  together,  with  at  least  a  portion  of  their 
capital.  This  was  the  beginning  of  Town  Syndicates, 
which  dealt  more  peculiarly  with  insurance  and  pen- 
sions. When,  later  on,  the  organization  of  free  Labour 
Offices,  Out-of-work  Funds,  Special  Hospitals,  Medical 
Dispensaries,  Old  Age  Homes  came  into  the  range  of 
possibility,  the  amalgamation  of  Town  Syndicates  and 
Country  Unions  into  Departmental  ones  was  tried ; 
and,  success  attending  these  experiments,  whole 
regions  joined  together  for  the  purpose  of  taking 
up  Hygiene,  Prophylaxy,  Sanatorium^,  Health  Re- 
sorts worked  for  the  benefit  of  Mutualist  members. 
At  length,  through  such  phases,  National  Federation 
was  reached. 

The  National  Federation  is  not  a  deliberating  body 
in  the  ordinary  sense.  It  does  not  put  its  meetings 
in  the  place  of  the  older  National  Congresses,  but 
organizes  them  by  bringing  in  all  the  unit  forces  of  the 
Societies,  and  makes  the  meetings  a  sort  of  Grand 
Mutualist  Lodge  of  France.  Again,  it  has  no  repre- 
sentative role,  but  is  rather  a  High  Advisory  Council, 


THE   MUTUALIST   MOVEMENT       327 

constituting  a  convenient  intermediary  between  the 
bodies  that  have  elected  it  and  the  Government.  Here 
it  may  be  explained  that,  when  the  Mutualist  movement 
assumed  something  of  its  present  responsibilities,  and  the 
State  commenced  both  to  patronize  it  and  to  surround  it 
with  certain  legislative  safeguards,  the  Ministry  of  the 
Interior  delegated  its  censorship  to  an  official  appointed 
ad  hoc.  The  duties  of  this  functionary  and  his  staff 
becoming  gradually  more  onerous,  he  has  been  recently 
raised  to  a  superior  grade  in  the  administrative 
hierarchy;  and,  to-day,  there  is  a  Government  Director 
of  the  Mutualist  Department  in  the  Ministry  of  the 
Interior,  who  is  entrusted  with  the  superintendence  of 
all  the  Friendly  Societies  throughout  France,  in  every- 
thing that  concerns  the  legal  part  of  their  activity. 
This  alone  attests  the  enormous  influence  wielded  by 
the  Mutualist  movement  among  the  population. 

Since  the  French  National  Federation  has  become  a 
fait  accompli,  its  higher  groupings  have  occupied  them- 
selves with  the  elaboration  of  two  services  known  as 
subsist ance  and  mutation. 

The  former  is  an  arrangement  by  which  the  Mutualist 
is  enabled,  whatever  his  enforced  absences  from  his 
usual  locality,  to  keep  his  position  and  advantages  in 
the  section  to  which  he  belongs.  The  latter,  viz. 
mutation,  allows  him,  in  case  he  definitely  changes  his 
residence,  to  enter  another  section  without  losing  any 
of  the  rights  and  privileges  he  may  have  previously 
acquired.  As  regards  the  temporarily  absent  member, 
the  problem  was  of  easy  solution.  Under  the  present 
system  of  grouping,  all  that  has  to  be  done  for  him  to 
be  attended  in  sickness — the  most  common  contingency 
— is  that  he  shall  be  accredited  to  the  section  of  the 


328     THE   THIRD   FRENCH    REPUBLIC 

place  in  which  he  is  for  the  nonce  domiciled,  and  that 
this  section  shall  in  return  draw  up  an  account  of  ex- 
penses incurred  and  settle  it  with  the  patient's  own 
society  through  the  medium  of  the  Syndicate  or  other 
union.  The  problem  of  mutation  gave  more  trouble 
on  account  of  the  Old  Age  Pension.  The  member 
having  effected  his  payments  for  a  series  of  years  in  one 
place  first,  and  then  in  another,  calculation  must  be 
made,  in  each  case,  not  only  of  these  payments  but  of 
the  amount  of  social  capital,  variable  in  the  two  or 
more  sections,  to  which  he  is  entitled.  A  practical 
suggestion  has  been  put  forward  by  one  of  the  delegates 
on  the  High  Council  that  there  shall  be  a  yearly  in- 
ventory of  each  section's  assets,  and  that  on  the  mem- 
ber's book  shall  be  inscribed  his  credit  both  social  and 
individual  for  that  and  each  year.  This  done,  the 
member  who  definitely  quits  one  locality  for  another 
has  only  to  submit  his  book  for  a  final  estimation  to  be 
made  of  his  share. 

The  manifold  applications  of  Mutualist  social  en- 
deavour is  far  from  being  exhausted  by  these  examples 
quoted.  Under  what  is  called  Mutucditc  Hygicnique, 
working-class  conditions  of  living  are  being  everywhere 
raised  by  the  Societies'  initiative.  On  the  programme 
exist  the  building  of  sanitary  houses,  realization  of 
home  and  personal  cleanliness,  the  suppression  of 
alcohol  as  a  beverage,  the  inculcation  of  proper 
physical  exercise  and  the  study  of  all  means  to  prevent 
tuberculosis  and  other  diseases  that  are  the  present 
scourges  of  humanity.  In  some  of  these  things  France 
may  be  behind  her  neighbours,  but  there  is  no  doubt 
that  her  Mutualist  organization,  if  allowed  to  continue 
its  beneficent  activity  unfettered,  will  soon  make  up 


Photograph  :   Bitlloz 


JEAN-PAUL     LAURENS 
Bv  RODIN 


THE   MUTUALIST    MOVEMENT        329 

leeway  and  equal  what  is  being  done  elsewhere  for  the 
people's  health.  The  zeal  with  which  it  is  pursuing  its 
mission  of  bringing  the  whole  of  the  democracy  within 
its  pale  is  shown  by  its  latest  achievement.  By  Govern- 
mental permission,  every  regiment  in  the  army  has 
now  its  Mutualist  Section,  enrolling,  if  not  perforce,  at 
least  by  persuasion,  each  soldier  as  a  member,  if  he  is 
not  already  on  the  lists.  Since  military  service  is 
compulsory  on  every  valid  male,  the  probability  is  that 
no  man  will  henceforth  quit  the  army  without  being 
in  some  way  affiliated  to  the  movement. 


XV 

EDUCATION 

The  reform  of  education  in  France  has  been  almost 
entirely  the  work  of  the  Third  Republic.  Such  efforts 
as  enlightened  statesmen  made  under  the  restored 
Monarchy  and  the  Second  Empire  to  build  up  a  new 
system  capable  of  being  applied  to  the  whole  nation 
were  rendered  almost  entirely  nugatory  by  the  resist- 
ance of  the  clergy,  whose  policy  was  encouraged  by 
the  passing  of  the  Loi  Falloux.  To  the  children  of 
the  people,  the  friars  and  nuns  taught  little  else  than 
catechisms  ;  and  the  Jesuits,  who  controlled  the  educa- 
tion of  the  richer  classes,  had  nothing  better  to  offer 
their  pupils,  after  years  of  Latin  and  Greek,  than  a 
useless  initiation  into  scholastic  logic.  As  for  the 
National  Universities,  already  in  a  decline  at  the  end  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  they  had  still  further  suffered 
from  their  treatment  under  the  first  Napoleon  ;  and  even 
the  Sorbonne  dragged  on  a  precarious  existence  through- 
out the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century  and  more,  its 
several  Faculties  disunited,  and  its  influence  more  and 
more  undermined  by  the  opening  of  Catholic  Univer- 
sity Colleges,  where  dogma  ruled  every  one  and  every- 
thing. 

From  a  report  drawn  up  on  the  education  question 
in  1864,  it  appeared  that,  in  nearly  a  thousand  com- 
munes, there  was  no  elementary  school,  and  that  only 

33° 


EDUCATION  331 

two-fifths  of  the  children  between  eight  and  eleven 
years  of  age  were  receiving  instruction.  Among  the 
adult  population,  twenty-eight  per  cent  of  the  males 
and  forty-four  per  cent  of  the  females  could  not  sign 
their  names,  while,  in  the  army,  a  third  of  the  soldiers 
could  not  write.  And  yet  there  was  universal  male 
suffrage.  As  Jean  Mace  said  in  1882,  when  criticizing 
this  state  of  things :  '  Before  coming  to  universal 
suffrage,  we  ought  to  have  passed  through  thirty  years' 
compulsory  education.'  To  this  same  Jean  Mace  was 
mainly  owing  the  awakening  of  public  opinion  on  the 
subject.  In  1866,  he  founded  the  French  Educational 
League,  for  the  purpose  of  creating  a  legal  agitation 
throughout  the  country  in  favour  of  compulsory,  free, 
secular  instruction  of  every  child.  Between  1866  and 
1870,  the  League  throve  ;  a  number  of  branches  were 
formed  in  the  great  centres :  and  a  monster  petition 
to  Parliament  was  set  on  foot,  with  the  support  of 
Gambetta  and  other  men  of  mark.  The  war  checked 
the  League's  action  for  a  time ;  but,  as  soon  as  peace 
was  definitely  secured,  the  Parisian  circle  of  the 
League  resumed  its  propaganda,  enlisting  members  on 
payment  of  a  halfpenny  fee.  They  now  called  their 
League  *  The  Commission  of  the  National  Halfpenny 
Movement  against  Ignorance.'  Their  numbers  rapidly 
increased  until  they  had  over  a  million  and  a  quarter 
adherents.  At  last,  on  the  19th  of  June,  1872,  through 
their  agency,  the  National  Assembly  of  Deputies  was 
presented  with  a  petition,  inscribed  on  a  hundred  and 
fifty  volumes  weighing  two  hundred  kilograms,  which 
needed  a  wagon  to  convey  it  to  Versailles. 

As   the    Clericals    had    a    Parliamentary    majority, 
Monsignor  Dupanloup,  their  champion,  succeeded  in 


332     THE    THIRD   FRENCH    REPUBLIC 

getting  the  question  shelved  by  the  Deputies.  But 
the  League,  instead  of  being  discouraged,  appealed  to 
the  Town,  Arrondissement,  and  General  Councils,  five 
hundred  of  which  gave  votes  in  favour  of  the  League's 
programme  being  adopted.  However,  as  long  as 
MacMahon's  reactionism  swayed  the  country,  no  legis- 
lation was  undertaken.  It  required  the  advent  of  Jules 
Ferry  to  power  for  an  adequate  project  of  State  ele- 
mentary instruction  to  be  elaborated  by  the  Chambers, 
and  to  be  put  into  execution,  liberated  from  all  the 
Church's  dogmatic  restrictions.  Thenceforward,  pri- 
mary education  was  fee-free,  compulsory  and  secular. 
Every  child  whose  parents  did  not  on  their  own  initia- 
tive provide  for  his  instruction  was  compelled  to  attend 
one  of  the  Government  Schools  from  the  age  of  seven 
(those  younger  could  attend  Infant  Schools,  but  the 
attendance  was  optional),  and  entered  on  a  curriculum 
extending  over  six  years,  during  which  he  was  taught : 
(1)  Moral  and  Civic  duties;  (2)  Reading  and  Writing 
and  Arithmetic  ;  (3)  The  French  language  and  elements 
of  literature ;  (4)  and  (5)  Geography  and  History, 
more  especially  French  ;  (6)  Some  common  notions  of 
Law  and  Political  Economy ;  (7)  The  elements  of 
Natural  Science,  Physics,  Mathematics,  with  applications 
to  Agriculture,  Hygiene,  the  Industrial  Arts,  Manual 
Labour,  the  use  of  tools  in  the  chief  trades ;  (8)  The 
elements  of  Drawing,  Modelling  and  Music  ;  (9)  Gym- 
nastics ;  (10)  Drill  (for  boys)  and  Needlework  (for 
girls). 

This  programme  was  a  comprehensive  one,  and,  with 
the  pedagogic  capacity  now  insisted  on  in  teachers,  was 
thoroughly  dealt  with  in  the  limits  of  simplicity 
prescribed.      At  eleven   years  of   age,   i.e.   after  four 


EDUCATION  333 

years'  study,  the  pupil  was  allowed,  if  apt,  to  present 
himself  for  an  examination  conferring  on  the  successful 
candidate  a  Certificate  of  Proficiency,  which  exempted 
him  from  further  compulsory  attendance  at  school. 
Yet  facilities  were  afforded  him  of  continuing  his  in- 
struction, and  even,  if  exceptionally  intelligent,  of 
entering  a  higher  Elementary  School,  or  even  a  Lycee 
with  a  scholarship,  in  which  latter  case  he  was  entitled 
to  carry  on  his  studies  until  the  age  of  sixteen  or 
seventeen. 

The  effect  of  the  reformed  scheme  of  elementary 
education  showed  itself  most  clearly  first  in  the  re- 
duction of  illiteracy  almost  to  vanishing  point.  Whereas 
in  1870  twenty-five  per  cent  of  males  and  more  than 
thirty-seven  per  cent  of  females  were  illiterate,  the 
percentage  fell  by  1898  to  four  decimal  seven  for  males 
and  to  seven,  decimal  two  for  females.  The  moral  gain, 
perhaps,  was  less  easily  calculable  in  figures  ;  but  it  was 
equally  evident  as  a  fact. 

The  Higher  Elementary  schools,  to  which  allusion  has 
just  been  made,  were  originally  brought  into  existence 
by  the  law  of  1833,  which  authorized  the  establishment 
of  one  in  every  town  of  above  six  thousand  souls. 
But  not  being  recognized  by  the  Falloux  Law  of  1850, 
they  neither  grew  nor  prospered  until  1878,  when  a 
credit  of  100,000  francs  was  voted  to  encourage  the 
various  communes  of  the  country  to  build  them. 
From  this  date,  when  their  number  was  forty,  they 
steadily  increased,  until,  to-day,  there  are  nearly  four 
hundred  of  them,  with  a  Government  annual  grant  of 
about  3,000,000  francs.  Although  the  instruction  they 
give  is  not  free,  as  that  of  the  Lower  Elementary 
Schools,  the  fees,  which  amount  to  about  ten  pounds  a 


334     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

year,  are  not  beyond  the  means  of  the  petite  bourgeoisie, 
whose  children  mainly  frequent  them,  especially  as 
reductions  are  often  made  and  the  scholarships  are 
numerous. 

The  teaching  here  is  frankly  practical  and  utilitarian, 
in  a  manner  professional  yet  real.  It  is  not  an  appren- 
ticeship ;  nor  is  the  school  a  workshop.  Together 
with  a  more  extended  study  of  the  subjects  taken  up  in 
the  Lower  Elementary  Schools,  Modern  Languages, 
more  advanced  Mathematics,  Geometric  Drawing, 
Designing  and  Modelling  are  on  the  programme ;  and, 
for  girls,  Cutting-out  and  Putting-together  in  dress- 
making. Further,  an  attempt  has  been  made  to 
diversify  the  teaching  and  studies  according  to  the 
region  in  which  the  school  is  situated  ;  and,  from  the 
second  year,  to  give  subjects  connected  with  either 
agriculture,  manufacturing  or  commerce,  the  promi- 
nence dictated  by  each  region  where  these  occupa- 
tions are  paramount.  In  Paris,  there  are,  at 
present,  five  such  schools — Turgot,  Colbert,  Lavoisier, 
Jean-Baptiste  Say  and  Arago,  all  of  them  fine  institu- 
tions with  staffs  of  University  graduates  of  proved 
pedagogic  ability. 

Of  some  other  institutions  helping  the  children  of 
the  people  to  prepare  themselves  for  their  future,  a 
brief  mention  is  not  out  of  place  in  this  connection. 
Under  the  name  of  'Ecoles  Primaires  Superieures 
Professionnelles '  may  be  classed  such  schools  as  the 
Ecole  Boulle,  which  trains  engravers,  carvers  and 
furniture -makers ;  the  Ecole  Diderot,  which  trains 
fitters,  joiners  and  smiths;  the  Ecole  Dorian,  which  trains 
mechanics ;  the  Ecole  Estienne,  which  trains  book- 
binders;    the    Ecole    Bernard  -  Palissy,    which    trains 


EDUCATION  335 

potters ;  while  practical  chemists  are  instructed  at  the 
Ecole  Municipale  de  Physique  et  Chimie  industrielles, 
where  the  late  lamented  Curie,  with  his  devoted  wife, 
made  the  discovery  of  radium.  Then  there  are  appren- 
ticeship schools  for  commerce  and  manufacturing,  which 
are  under  the  control  of  the  Minister  for  Commerce. 
These  latter  are  distinct  from  the  Boys'  Commercial 
Schools  to  be  spoken  of  below.  For  girls,  six  Pro- 
fessional and  Housekeeping  Schools  exist,  where 
laundry-work,  dress-making  and  millinery,  embroidery 
and  flower-making  are  taught. 

Not  inferior  to  the  foregoing  has  been  the  establish- 
ment and  spread  throughout  the  country,  during  the 
Third  Republic's  history,  of  free  evening  and  day 
classes,  held  either  in  the  Mairies  or  other  public  build- 
ings lent  for  the  purpose.  In  these,  practically  every 
subject  of  utility  and  of  scientific  or  artistic  interest 
may  be  studied  by  the  young  and,  indeed,  the  adult,  in 
their  hours  of  leisure.  Some  of  the  professors  and 
teachers  are  paid ;  but  most  of  them  give  their  time. 
This  good  work  is  carried  on,  under  Government 
patronage,  by  a  number  of  societies,  some  of  them 
older  than  the  Republic,  for  instance,  the  '  Societe  pour 
l'lnstruction  elementaire,'  the  '  Association  Polytech- 
nique,'  the  '  Association  Philotechnique,'  some  of  them 
younger,  like  the  '  Union  de  la  Jeunesse  Francaise,'  the 
'  Union  de  la  Jeunesse  Republicaine,'  the  '  Societe 
Republicaine  des  Conferences  populaires,'  the  '  Societe' 
Populaire  des  Beaux  Arts,'  etc. 

However,  not  content  with  all  these  means  of  sup- 
plementary education  and  culture  at  its  disposal,  the 
French  democracy  has  created  another  movement, 
known  as  the  '  University  Populaires,'  entirely  apart 


336     THE    THIRD    FRENCH    REPUBLIC 

from  outside  control,  Church  or  otherwise  (the  Catho- 
lics have  started  something  similar  on  sectarian  lines). 
The  first  of  the  '  Universites  Populaires '  was  founded 
in  1899  by  a  former  working  typographer,  Monsieur 
Georges  Deherme,  in  the  Paris  Faubourg  Saint 
Antoine,  and  comprised  a  reading-room,  a  library,  a 
small  museum,  a  room  for  games  and  a  lecture-room. 
In  the  following  year,  the  number  increased  to  eighteen, 
and  to-day  there  are  over  a  hundred  similar  institutions. 
Although,  for  the  time  being,  help  is  accepted  from 
lecturers,  professors  and  entertainers,  and  from  donors 
belonging  to  the  leisured,  wealthy  classes  of  society, 
the  ambition  of  the  promoters  is  to  form  their  instruc- 
tors, and  to  be  a  self-contained,  as  they  are  a  self- 
governing  community.  Perhaps  there  is  some  false 
pride  in  the  ideal ;  yet  one  is  constrained  to  admire  it. 


The  education  which,  in  France,  is  called  Secondary, 
lies  between  the  Higher  or  University  studies  properly 
so-called  and  those  that  are  Elementary.  Under  the 
old  regime,  the  appanage  of  the  rich,  it  was,  as  already 
stated,  then  given  chiefly  by  the  Jesuits.  Not  until  the 
Second  Floreal  of  the  Year  X  in  the  Revolution 
annals,  i.e.  a.d.  1802,  were  Lycees  (corresponding  to 
the  modern  English  Grammar  and  Public  School 
combined)  created  in  France ;  and  since,  under 
Napoleon  I,  the  ancient  programmes  were  reverted 
to,  Latin  and  Greek,  with  Mathematics  taught  as  a 
branch  of  philosophy,  were  the  beginning  and  end  of 
instruction. 

In  1852,  the  first  step  towards  a  change  of  system 
was  taken  by  bifurcating  pupils  after  four  years'  teach- 


EDUCATION  337 

ing,  and  directing  them  more  especially  either  towards 
Letters  or  towards  Science.  A  dozen  years  later,  Mon- 
sieur Victor  Duruy,  the  Minister,  framed  a  separate 
curriculum  for  pupils  intending  to  enter  on  a  business 
career,  as  distinguished  from  those  of  public  life.  This 
latter,  which  was  three  years  shorter  than  the  Letters, 
and  two  years  shorter  than  the  Science  curriculum, 
obtained  great  favour  during  the  early  period  of  the 
Republic;  and,  when  it  was  transformed,  in  1890,  into 
what  was  termed  an  enseignement  moderne,  with  its  own 
University  degrees,  giving  access,  like  the  older  classical 
and  mathematical  course,  to  the  higher  State  University 
Schools,  such  as  the  Ecole  Polytechnique,  the  Ecole 
Militaire  de  Saint-Cyr,  the  Ecole  Nationale  Forestiere, 
etc.,  the  number  of  students  trained  by  it  gained 
rapidly  on  those  devoting  themselves  to  the  enseigne- 
ment classiqne.  -  In  order  to  check  what  seemed  to  be  a 
too  general  abandonment  of  Letters,  the  Government  in 
1902  again  modified  the  whole  programme  of  Second- 
ary studies,  and  strove  to  render  them  at  once  more 
supple  and  more  coherent.  The  ordinary  Lycee  curri- 
culum was  fixed  at  seven  years'  duration,  which  the 
pupil  commenced  at  the  age  of  eleven,  coming  either 
from  a  Preparatory  course  at  the  Lycee  itself,  or  from 
some  Elementary  School.  Under  the  reformed  system, 
the  pupil  passes  through  a  first  cycle  of  four  years' 
work  in  one  of  two  sections.  In  each  section,  Modern 
Languages  are  taught  compulsorily,  with  the  usual 
French  language  and  literature,  Geography,  History  and 
elementary  Mathematics.  Peculiar  to  the  classical 
section  are  Latin  and  Greek  (the  latter,  however, 
optional) ;  and  peculiar  to  the  modern  section  are 
special   French,    Mathematics,  together   with  Science. 


338     THE   THIRD   FRENCH    REPUBLIC 

At  the  end  of  the  first  cycle,  which  the  pupil  is  sup- 
posed to  finish  at  fifteen,  and  which  may  suffice  for  him 
if  entering  early  on  his  life's  career,  comes  the  second 
cycle  of  three  years'  work ;  and  in  this  there  are  four 
sections.  The  pupil  who  goes  into  Division  A  special- 
izes in  Latin  and  Greek  ;  if  he  goes  into  Division  B,  he 
specializes  in  Latin  and  Modern  Languages ;  if  into 
Division  C,  in  Latin  and  Science ;  if  into  Division 
D,  in  Modern  Languages  and  Science.  Of  course, 
all  the  four  sections  have  common  subjects,  among 
these,  Philosophy  and  Mathematics.  But  at  the 
Classical  end,  Philosophy  is  studied  more  fully ;  at 
the  Scientific  end,  Mathematics  ;  and  the  time  devoted 
to  .all  the  common  subjects  varies  in  the  different 
sections. 

While  still  at  school,  the  pupil  of  seventeen  or 
eighteen  goes  in  for  his  Bachelor's  degree,  which,  under 
the  new  system,  has  the  same  value  in  all  the  sections, 
and  should  properly  have  no  other  name  than  the 
simple  '  Baccalaureat ' ;  but  the  mention  on  his  diploma 
of  the  subjects  in  which  he  has  passed  it,  causes  the 
degree  to  have  an  epithet  usually  attached  to  it : 
'  Baccalaureat  —  Latin  et  Grec  ' ;  '  Baccalaureat  — 
sciences';  'Baccalaureat — langues  modernes,' etc.  Both 
the  youthful  age  at  which  this  diploma  is  conferred 
and  the  relative  superficiality  of  the  questions  put  to 
the  candidate  render  its  value  inferior  to  that  of  an 
Arts  degree  in  an  English  University.  The  nearest 
equivalent  to  it  would  be  something  between  an  Oxford 
or  Cambridge  Local  Senior  and  the  London  Matricula- 
tion. The  value  of  the  instruction  given  in  the  Lyce'es 
should  entitle  it  to  rank  quite  with  the  London 
Matriculation ;  but  the  Examiners  content  themselves 


EDUCATION  339 

with  a  moderate  percentage  of  the  maximum  marks 
obtainable,  and  allow  one  subject  to  make  up  for 
another,  both  in  the  papers  and  the  viva  voce. 

The  role  that  Victor  Duruy  played  in  extending  to 
girls  the  benefit  of  State  education  has  been  alluded 
to  in  an  earlier  chapter.  What  he  was  able  to  do  was 
to  organize  classes  for  girls  in  Literature,  Science  and 
Modern  Languages.  The  opposition  of  the  Bishops, 
who  wished  to  keep  their  Convent  schools  full,  pre- 
vented the  movement  from  developing  much  until  the 
Third  Republic  was  firmly  established.  Camille  See 
and  Jules  Ferry,  in  1880,  were  the  chief  instruments  in 
carrying  a  law  providing  for  the  foundation  of  Girls' 
Lycees ;  and  sixteen  towns  straightway  availed  them- 
selves of  the  State's  permission  and  pecuniary  help. 
The  first  institution  of  the  kind  was  opened  at  Mont- 
pellier  in  1881.  To-day  there  are  nearly  one  hundred 
and  fifty,  with  some  twenty-five  thousand  pupils. 
Paris  alone  has  five:  Fenelon,  founded  in  1813; 
Racine,  in  1867  ;  Moliere,  in  1888  ;  Lamartine,  in  1893  ; 
and  Victor  Hugo,  in  1895.  At  first  the  teachers  were 
mostly  men,  but  now  women  graduates  are  everywhere 
taking  their  place. 

The  programme  comprises  Moral  Instruction, 
French,  Ancient  and  Modern  Literature,  Geography 
and  Cosmography,  French  History,  Outlines  of 
General  History,  Arithmetic  and  Elements  of  Geo- 
metry, Chemistry,  Physics  and  Natural  History, 
Hygiene,  Domestic  Economy,  Needlework,  Outlines 
of  Law,  Drawing,  Music,  and  Gymnastics.  There  are 
two  cycles,  from  twelve  to  fifteen  years  of  age,  and 
from  fifteen  to  seventeen.  In  the  first,  every  subject 
is  compulsory ;  in  the  second,  some  subjects,  such  as 


340    THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

Latin,  Mathematics,  and  Oral  Music,  are  optional. 
A  sixth  year  exists  in  Paris  Lycees  for  studies  that 
prepare  pupils  to  enter  the  School  Mistresses'  Secondary 
Training  College  at  Sevres.  After  the  first  cycle,  a 
certificate  of  proficiency  in  secondary  studies  is  obtain- 
able ;  and  at  the  end  of  the  second,  a  diploma. 

In  French  Lycees  boarders  are  taken,  but  so  far  the 
Boys'  Interned  has  not  yielded  very  satisfactory  results. 
Most  men  who  have  experienced  it  find  fault.  For 
one  thing,  it  has  been  worked  in  the  past  too  much  on 
military  lines,  with  little  or  no  family  life,  small  oppor- 
tunities for  recreation,  and,  in  towns  especially,  but 
little  space  for  outdoor  recreation.  What  is  needed 
is  the  house-system  that  has  been  found  so  good  in 
England.  Since  such  attention  is  being  paid  at  present 
in  France  to  everything  concerning  education,  the 
Interned  is  certain  to  be  thoroughly  modified  and  ren- 
dered more  acceptable. 

Nothing  has  been  said,  in  the  preceding  sketch  of 
State  Secondary  Instruction,  of  an  experiment  which  is 
being  tried  in  Lycees  in  devising  a  distinct  course  of 
study  throughout  the  two  cycles  for  the  profit  of  cer- 
tain pupils  preparing  themselves  to  enter  on  technical 
careers  that  require  the  training  to  be  begun  very  early. 
As  yet,  the  experiment  is  only  in  its  initial  stage.  On 
the  other  hand,  Secondary  Commercial  Schools,  which 
receive  pupils  at  a  tender  age  and  provide  for  their 
education  up  to  sixteen  and  seventeen,  have  existed  for 
a  number  of  years,  being  carried  on  under  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  French  Chambers  of  Commerce,  inde- 
pendently of  the  State,  yet  approved  and  patronized  by 
Government.  Like  the  Lycees  and  the  Higher  Ele- 
mentary Schools,  they  offer  free  instruction  through 


BERTHELOT 

From  a  Photograph  by  PIERRE  PETIT 


EDUCATION  341 

scholarships  to  a  certain  number  of  intelligent  scholars 
coming  from  the  Lower  Elementary  establishments. 
Three  modern  languages,  English,  German,  and 
Spanish,  are  taught ;  and,  before  the  end  of  the  curricu- 
lum, book-keeping,  commercial  law,  and  other  branches 
of  knowledge  necessary  in  business  life. 

In  the  Commercial  Schools  the  fees  are  about  £9  a 
year.  The  Lycees  ask  more,  except  in  their  low  pre- 
paratory classes.  Here  the  fees  range  from  about  £12 
to  £20,  according  to  the  form  the  pupil  occupies.  In- 
deed, the  highest  class  of  all,  in  which  a  pupil,  after 
passing  his  '  Baccalaureat,'  may  spend  another  year  to 
be  coached  for  the  University  and  Superior  Technical 
Schools,  requires  a  payment  of  about  £30.  The  Lycee 
Internat  is  not  expensive,  ranging  in  its  charges  for  the 
two  cycles  from  about  £40  to  £60  a  year. 

Private  schools,  both  day  and  boarding,  have  followed 
in  France,  as  in  England,  the  same  tendency  to  dimin- 
ish, since  the  State  has  taken  the  care  of  Secondary 
Education  into  its  own  hands,  the  diminishing  tendency 
being  more  marked  in  boys'  schools  than  in  girls'. 
These  latter,  however,  are  likely  to  be  affected  in  the 
same  degree,  before  long,  by  the  recent  legislation 
against  the  Religious  Orders.  There  is  even  a  doubt, 
at  present,  as  to  whether  in  the  near  future  a  State 
monopoly  of  education  will  not  be  exercised  against 
all  schools  under  private  management,  exception  made 
only  of  the  family,  and  some  classes  for  special  subjects. 


The  Modern  University  System  in  France  dates  back 
no  further  than  the  year  1890.  Before  the  Great 
Revolution,  the  ancient  Sorbonne  was  the  chief  seat  of 


342     THE    THIRD    FRENCH    REPUBLIC 

higher  learning ;  and  enjoyed  undisputed  fame  and 
authority  due  to  its  illustrious  past  and  its  privileged  posi- 
tion in  a  capital  which  dominated  the  rest  of  the  country. 
There  were,  however,  provincial  universities  to  the 
number  of  twenty-one,  having  their  seats  respectively 
at  Bourges,  Orleans,  Rheims,  Dijon,  Besancon,  Nancy, 
Strasbourg,  Douai,  Caen,  Angers,  Nantes,  Poitiers, 
Bordeaux,  Toulouse,  Pau,  Montpellier,  Perpignan, 
Aix- Avignon,  Orange  and  Valence.  In  the  eighteenth 
century,  such  renown  as  had  ever  belonged  to  these 
smaller  University  institutions  had  almost  entirely  dis- 
appeared, so  that,  when  the  Revolution  suppressed 
them,  in  the  general  overthrow,  the  loss  was  less  im- 
portant than  in  the  case  of  the  Sorbonne.  Similarly, 
when  the  Empire  reorganized  the  University  system  on 
its  own  rigid  plan,  these  provincial  Faculties  furnished 
little  or  nothing  to  the  country's  higher  teaching.  In 
fact,  the  Sorbonne  itself  languished  during  the  greater 
portion  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Its  various  Faculties 
had  no  real  cohesion ;  and,  in  spite  of  the  lustre  con- 
ferred by  men  of  genius  on  some  professorial  chairs, 
they  were  unable  to  contribute,  in  a  combined  effort,  to 
form  an  adequate  national  culture.  By  the  1890  Act 
of  Parliament,  the  Sorbonne  was  reconstituted — it  had 
been  also  rebuilt — and  six  Provincial  Universities  were 
created :  Lille,  Lyons,  Bordeaux,  Montpellier,  Nancy 
and  Toulouse ;  as  a  matter  of  fact,  only  the  first  two 
were  really  new  creations.  The  other  four  rose  from 
their  ashes.  This  was  again  the  case  when,  six  years 
later,  eight  more  Universities  received  their  charter, 
namely,  Aix-Marseilles,  Besancon,  Caen,  Clermont- 
Ferrand,  Dijon,  Grenoble,  Poitiers  and  Rennes.  Two 
or  three  only  had  never  existed  before. 


EDUCATION  343 

In  their  reorganized  form,  the  institutions  of  Higher 
Instruction,  while  placed  under  the  supreme  control  of 
the  Government  and  the  Education  Department,  were 
given  a  large  measure  of  independence,  both  in  the 
formation  of  their  Faculties,  and  in  the  drawing-up 
and  carrying-out  of  their  programmes.  However,  the 
teaching  and  the  examinations  were  so  co-ordinated 
by  the  State  as  to  make  the  degrees  conferred  equiva- 
lent in  each  and  all  of  the  University  bodies. 

The  University  of  Paris,  as  the  oldest  and  largest, 
is  naturally  the  most  complete  in  its  faculties.  Of 
these  there  are  five :  Law,  Medicine,  Science,  Letters 
and,  until  now,  Protestant  Theology.  This  last 
Faculty  seems  an  anomaly  in  a  country  which,  on  the 
one  hand,  has  done  away  with  any  State  patronage 
of  religion,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  has  so  few  pro- 
fessing Protestants.  The  explanation  is  that,  whereas 
the  Catholics,  in  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
founded  universities  of  their  own  and  withdrew  their 
students  more  and  more  from  the  Sorbonne,  the 
Protestants,  having  no  separate  University  Faculty 
of  Theology,  and  requiring  a  theological  degree  from 
their  Ministers,  the  Sorbonne  Faculty  of  Theology 
was  maintained  for  them,  since  in  1890  the  three 
chief  religious  bodies,  Catholic,  Protestant,  and  Jewish, 
were  still  endowed  by  the  State  and  formed  an  Estab- 
lished Union  of  State  Churches. 

The  Chancellor  or  Grand  Master  of  all  the  Univer- 
sities is  the  Minister  for  Public  Instruction.  Under 
him  and  appointed  by  him,  each  University  has  its 
own  Rector ;  and,  for  the  rest,  is  governed  by  a 
Council  composed  of  the  various  heads  of  Faculties 
and   Directors  of  schools,    sitting  by   virtue   of  their 


344    THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

office,  and  of  a  number  of  other  members  elected,  two 
from  each  Faculty  and  school.  Its  revenues  are  de- 
rived from  examination  fees  and  the  interest  on  gifts, 
and  also  from  certain  annual  grants.  Its  professors 
are  appointed  by  the  Minister  for  Public  Instruction 
generally  from  among  the  staff"  of  Lycee  teachers, 
exception  made  for  certain  chairs  whose  professors 
are  perforce  recruited  among  savants  not  engaged  in 
school-work.  All  the  Lycees  are  under  University 
supervision,  each  University  centre  having  its  own 
sphere  of  influence ;  and  the  Professors  are  to  some 
extent  responsible  to  the  Rector  of  the  University  in 
whose  sphere  their  Lycee  is  situated.  Thus,  they 
have  three  hierarchic  superiors,  the  Proviseur  or  Head 
Master,  who  administers  but  does  not  teach,  the  Uni- 
versity Rector  and,  above  him,  the  Minister  for  Public 
Instruction. 

University  teaching  in  France,  in  the  stricter  sense 
of  the  word,  does  not  begin  until  the  Bachelor's 
degree  is  taken,  or,  in  the  case  of  girls,  at  least  the 
1  Brevet  Superieur.'  Its  various  lectures  prepare  the 
student  for  the  Licentiate's,  Doctor's  and  Agrege's 
degree  in  the  different  faculties.  The  '  Agregation '  is 
obtained  by  a  competitive  examination  in  which  only 
a  small  number  succeed  each  year,  and  is  more 
peculiarly  a  teaching  degree,  those  who  pass  having 
the  right  to  a  post  as  professor  in  some  State  school 
of  secondary  or  higher  instruction.  It  has  some 
analogy  to  the  Honour  degree  of  an  English  Uni- 
versity conferring  a  Fellowship.  In  modern  languages, 
a  pedagogic  degree  inferior  to  that  of  *  Agrege '  may  be 
obtained  by  a  competitive  examination,  which  also 
gives  the  successful  candidate  the  right  to  a  post  in 


EDUCATION  345 

provincial  Lycees.  This  diploma  is  called  the  '  Certificat 
d'aptitude  secondaire.'  The  student  who  has  it  may 
subsequently  present  himself  for  the '  Agregation,'  with- 
out needing  to  go  in  for  his  Licence. 

Under  the  Republic,  pedagogy  has  become  an  im- 
portant part  of  University  training.  Quite  recently, 
the  '  Ecole  Normale  Superieure,'  which  for  many  years 
was  a  sort  of  small  independent  University  school  for 
the  training  of  an  elite  of  Lycee  professors,  has  been 
made  an  integral  part  of  the  Paris  University.  Even 
to  enter  it,  there  is  a  stiff  competitive  examination ; 
and,  when  the  student  has  gone  through  the  curri- 
culum, he  usually  issues  as  an  '  Agrege,'  and  often  as  a 
Doctor  as  well.  To  the  highest  '  Agreges '  in  their 
degree  year,  travelling  scholarships  are  generally 
awarded,  so  that  they  may  spend  a  year  or  two 
abroad,  studying  the  systems  of  other  countries,  before 
they  begin  their  own  work. 

In  the  Law  Faculty,  the  Licentiate's  degree  is  ob- 
tained after  three  years'  study  and  three  examinations, 
one  at  the  end  of  each  year.  In  the  Medical  Faculty, 
the  course  is  a  longer  one,  on  account  of  the  number 
of  subjects  taken  up,  and  the  necessity  of  gaining 
practical  experience  in  dissection  and  hospital  work. 
The  Internet  in  hospitals,  corresponding  to  House 
Surgeonships  in  England,  are  posts  coveted  by  all 
medical  students,  and  are  obtainable  only  through  a 
difficult  competitive  examination ;  and,  since  the  M.D. 
degree  is  never  taken  by  the  Interne  until  he  has 
finished  his  term  in  the  hospital,  the  medical  curri- 
culum may  cover  a  period  of  nine  or  ten  years.  A 
lower  diploma,  that  of  '  Officier  de  Sante,'  corresponding 
about  to  the  Apothecary's  degree  in  England,  entitles 


346     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

a  student  to  practise  medicine ;  but,  to-day,  nearly 
every  one  adopting  a  medical  or  surgical  career  pro- 
ceeds straight  through  to  the  Doctor's  degree.  The 
Licentiate's  degree  in  Letters  or  Science  may  be  ob- 
tained in  one  examination  passed  by  the  Bachelor  at 
any  age,  and  without  any  specified  term  of  lectures. 
This  is  because  the  French  Universities,  although 
teaching  as  well  as  examining,  do  not  require  residence, 
or,  in  general,  even  attendance  at  lectures  from  candi- 
dates for  degrees.  At  the  same  time,  the  Licence  is  a 
much  harder  degree  to  get  than  might  be  imagined. 
The  knowledge  insisted  on  is  thorough,  and  the  candi- 
date, who  has  two  chances  each  year  allowed  him,  may 
sometimes  have  to  undergo  several  failures,  indeed 
may  have  occasionally  to  give  up  his  endeavours  to 
pass.  The  same,  in  fact,  is  true  of  all  higher  degrees. 
The  Doctor's  degree  in  Letters  or  Science  is  conferred 
on  those  entitled  to  present  themselves  for  examina- 
tion, that  is  to  say  on  Licentiates  who  are  able  to 
write  a  Latin  thesis  on  a  subject  chosen  by  them  and 
approved  by  the  University  examiners,  which  subject 
they  must  subsequently  treat  viva  voce,  to  the 
examiners'  satisfaction. 

The  non-resident  character  of  French  Universities 
enables  a  student  to  gain  his  degree  more  cheaply  than 
in  the  older  English  Universities.  The  fees  for  the 
Licentiate  are  under  £20,  and,  in  the  medical  curri- 
culum, do  not  exceed  £60. 

# 

Side  by  side  with  the  five  ordinary  University 
Faculties,  there  exist  a  number  of  higher  educational 
institutions,  of  equal  rank,  which  train  for  special 
careers,  and  some  of  which  confer  degrees  or  diplomas. 


EDUCATION  347 

The  most  famous  and  ancient  of  these  is  the  '  College  de 
France,'  situated  in  the  Rue  des  Ecoles,  close  to  the 
Sorbonne,  with  its  forty-four  professional  chairs  and  its 
eleven  laboratories.  The  '  College  de  France '  holds  no 
examinations,  confers  no  degrees,  and  gives  its  instruc- 
tion without  fees.  Here  the  student  of  any  age  may 
attend  and  gain  knowledge  in  Languages,  Physics, 
Chemistry,  Medicine,  Natural  History,  Psychology, 
Legislation,  etc.,  under  the  tuition  of  some  of  the  most 
eminent  men  in  the  country.  Other  such  institutions 
are  the  '  Ecole  des  Chartes,'  a  training  school  for 
historians ;  the  '  Ecole  Pratique  des  Hautes  Etudes,' 
with  premises,  like  the  preceding,  in  the  Sorbonne 
precincts  ;  it  was  founded  in  1868,  and  was  enlarged  in 
1885  with  a  section  for  Religious  Science.  Training 
students  in  scientific  investigations  of  divers  kinds,  it 
has  laboratories  scattered  about  the  country,  for 
instance,  a  Geological  one  at  Lille,  one  for  Vegetable 
Biology  at  Fontainebleau,  others  for  Maritime  Zoology 
in  the  French  ports.  Then,  there  are  the  '  Ecole  Libre 
des  Sciences  Morales  et  Politiques,'  founded  in  1877  ; 
the '  Ecole  des  Sciences  Sociales ' ;  the '  Ecole  des  Hautes 
Etudes  Sociales ' ;  the  '  Ecole  du  Louvre,'  with  a  three 
years'  course  for  Archaeology,  Epigraphy,  and  the 
History  of  Art,  training  future  Curators  of  Museums  ; 
the  '  Conservatoire  des  Arts  et  Metiers,'  a  sort  of 
Industrial  Museum,  to  which  are  attached  seventeen 
Chairs  for  the  higher  teaching  of  science  as  applied  to 
the  arts,  the  classes  being  held  in  the  evening.  For 
Higher  Commercial  training,  there  are  in  Paris  the 
'  Hautes  Etudes  Commerciales '  and  the  '  Ecole  Supe- 
rieure  de  Commerce,'  both  under  the  control  of  the 
Paris  Chamber  of  Commerce  ;  and  similar  colleges  exist 


348     THE    THIRD    FRENCH    REPUBLIC 

in  the  departments.  The  '  Ecole  des  Beaux  Arts '  is  the 
national  training  school  for  sculptors,  painters  and 
engravers  ;  while  another  institution  exists  for  the  study 
of  architecture.  The  Conservatoire  of  Music  and  the 
Dramatic  Art  is  illustrious  throughout  the  world  by 
the  number  of  musicians  and  actors  of  first  rank  that 
are  formed  by  it.  Less  celebrated,  but  doing  good 
work,  are  the  '  Ecole  des  Langues  Orien tales '  and  the 
'Ecole  Coloniale,'  the  latter  more  peculiarly  training 
functionaries  for  the  country's  colonial  possessions. 
The  usual  Army  School  for  officers  is  '  Saint-Cyr,'  corre- 
sponding to  the  '  Ecole  Navale  '  for  midshipmen.  From 
the  'Ecole  Polytechnique,'  too,  the  army  receives  a 
contingent  of  sub-lieutenants.  This  institution  admits 
only  an  elite  of  candidates,  and  confers  a  diploma  which 
is  a  life-prize  to  the  young  man  obtaining  it.  Engineers 
are  formed  here,  but  also  at  the  '  Ecole  Centrale  des 
Arts  et  Metiers,'  an  exceedingly  valuable  college  for 
those  requiring  higher  applied  mathematics.  The  civil 
engineer  that  aims  at  something  big  goes  to  the  '  Ecole 
des  Ponts  and  Chaussees.'  Agriculture  and  Mining  are 
not  without  colleges  for  students  that  can  pass  the 
entrance  examination  ;  and  these  go  through  an  excel- 
lent curriculum  of  an  advanced  character. 

It  would  take  up  too  much  space  to  give  a  complete 
enumeration  of  all  such  auxiliary  university  institutions. 
In  some,  perhaps,  the  theoretical  encroaches  too  much 
on  the  practical,  and  would  be  better  learnt  after 
acquaintance  had  been  made  with  the  'latter.  Yet 
counting  one  with  another,  they  are  doing  a  wonderful 
work,  not  only  in  the  education  they  give  to  their 
alumni,  but  in  their  combined  efforts  of  research,  with 
a  view  to  the  student's  advantage  in  his  after-career. 


XVI 

THE    PARLIAMENTARY    SYSTEM 

The  Parliamentary  system  of  the  Third  Republic, 
like  many  other  French  institutions,  is  not  very  old. 
No  independent  Legislative  Chamber  in  France  ex- 
isted before  the  1789  Revolution.  The  famous  Etats 
Gencraux  of  the  ancient  Monarchy  were  occasional 
gatherings  of  the  three  orders,  nobility,  clergy  and 
common  people.  They  were  called  by  the  kings  for 
purposes  strictly  personal,  and  exercised  their  functions 
only  by  the  royal  pleasure.  Much  nearer  to  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  Stuart  and  Georgian  Parliaments  were 
the  old  French  judiciary  Parliaments  composed  of 
judges  and  lawyers,  which  arrogated  to  themselves 
the  right  of  objecting  to  the  King's  ordomiances,  and 
were  often  in  opposition  to  the  royal  will. 

The  great  step  was  taken,  and  the  Rubicon  was 
crossed,  when  the  Tie7\s  Etat  of  the  1789  Etats 
Generaux,  compelling  the  adhesion  of  the  nobles  and 
clergy,  constituted  themselves  a  national  assembly  and 
framed  a  government  depending  on  one  legislative 
chamber  composed  of  seven  hundred  and  forty-five 
deputies,  to  be  elected  every  two  years  by  the  scrutin  de 
liste  and  according  to  a  sort  of  household  suffrage  exer- 
cised indirectly  through  an  electoral  college.  Between 
this  experiment  and  the  final  one  which  in  1875  issued 
in  the  present  legislative  arrangement  and  provided  for 

349 


350     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

its  future  revision,  there  lie  no  fewer  than  fourteen 
successive  Parliamentary  systems  drawn  up,  and,  most 
of  them,  put  into  execution  by  Republic,  Emperor 
or  King. 

The  most  curious  of  all,  as  also  the  most  illusory, 
was  that  of  the  22nd  of  Frimaire,  An.  VIII  (12th  of 
Dec.  1799).  Great  in  war,  Napoleon  I  was  great  too 
in  his  simplification  of  the  administrative  machinery 
of  France,  ordering  everything  so  that  it  should  turn 
on  the  pivot  of  his  yea  and  nay.  He  gave  to  the 
country  even  a  kind  of  universal  suffrage.  All  French- 
men of  twentjr-one  years  of  age,  whose  names  were  on 
the  lists,  had  a  vote.  This  vote,  however,  conferred 
on  them  no  effective  share  in  governing.  What  it 
elected  was  six  hundred  thousand  notables,  from  whom 
the  Emperor  that  was  to  be  chose  his  petty  village 
functionaries.  These  six  hundred  thousand  elected  sixty 
thousand  higher  notables,  from  whom  the  future  Em- 
peror chose  his  departmental  functionaries  ;  and,  in  their 
turn,  the  sixty  thousand  elected  six  thousand,  from 
whom  the  future  Emperor  chose  his  State  functionaries, 
including  the  Supreme  Council,  the  Tribunat,  and  the 
Legislative  Body.  The  Senate  alone  was  a  kind  of 
self-recruiting  organization,  yet,  in  fact,  also  depending 
on  the  Consulat,  which,  in  other  words,  was  Napoleon. 
Under  this  Constitution,  the  Supreme  Council  proposed 
laws ;  the  Tribunal  discussed  them,  without  voting ; 
the  Legislative  Body  voted  them,  without  discussion ; 
and  the  Senate  approved  them ;  and,  as  all  four  were 
controlled  by  the  Consulat,  and  the  other  two  Consuls, 
Cambaceres  and  Lebrun,  were  mere  ciphers,  it  was  the 
Petit  Caporal  who  ruled  as  despot. 

The  modern  Parliamentary  system  created  in  1875 


THE   PARLIAMENTARY   SYSTEM     351 

has  since  received  no  important  modification  except  in 
the  brief  trial  of  the  scrutin  de  liste,  during  the  eighties. 
In  1884  it  was  that  the  Republican  form  of  Govern- 
ment was  definitely  sanctioned  and  all  members  of  pre- 
viously reigning  families  were  excluded  from  the  Presi- 
dency. In  its  working,  the  French  system  resembles 
the  English  one  in  the  main.  There  is,  however,  a 
theoretical  power  possessed  by  the  French  President 
which  is  not  possessed  by  the  British  King.  He  is 
able  to  take  the  initiative  in  the  making  of  laws ;  and 
a  Bill  emanating  from  his  suggestion  is  called  a  projet 
de  hi,  whereas  Bills  emanating  from  the  two  Chambers 
are  called  p7V]Jositio?is  de  his.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
President  has  no  real  veto  discretion.  All  he  can  do, 
if  he  does  not  approve  of  a  Bill  that  has  been  passed,  is 
to  request,  any  time  before  its  promulgation  as  an  Act 
of  Parliament,  that  another  deliberation  shall  take 
place  in  each  of  the  Chambers.  Should  the  Bill  be 
revoted,  it  becomes  law  without  his  consent.  No  case 
of  such  dissent,  indeed,  has  occurred  since  1875. 

The  share  of  the  ordinary  citizen  in  legislation  is 
limited  to  his  choosing  his  Parliamentary  representa- 
tives ;  and  this  he  can  do  as  soon  as  he  is  twenty-one 
and  as  long  as  he  enjoys  his  civil  rights,  exception  made 
for  soldiers,  during  their  compulsory  military  service, 
who  are  temporarily  disqualified.  No  referendum  or 
plebiscite  has  been  held  during  the  Third  Republic. 

The  method  of  voting  for  the  Chamber  of  Deputies, 
called  the  scrutin  d  arrondissement  is  practically  the 
same  as  in  Great  Britain,  a  member  being  allotted  for 
each  hundred  thousand  inhabitants.  Its  great  disad- 
vantage is  to  aggravate  the  injustice  done  to  minorities 
by  placing  a  constituency  of  twenty  thousand  inhabi- 


352    THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

tants  on  an  equality  with  one  of  ninety  thousand. 
The  scrutin  de  liste  substitutes  the  Department  for  the 
Arrondissement,  and  allows  each  elector  as  many  votes 
as  the  Department  can  send  members  to  Parliament. 
These  votes  he  can  either  distribute,  or  concentrate  on 
one  candidate.  Each  and  every  political  party  can 
present  as  many  names  as  there  are  seats  to  be  rilled ; 
and  assignment  of  seats  is  made  to  the  various  parties 
in  proportion  to  the  number  of  votes  obtained  by  their 
respective  lists.  Among  the  candidates  of  each  list, 
the  selection  takes  place  in  the  order  of  their  majorities  ; 
and,  where  the  suffrages  are  equal,  the  elder  precedes 
the  younger.  Under  this  method,  by-elections  are  sup- 
pressed, vacancies  being  filled  up  from  the  remaining 
candidates  of  the  preceding  elections  that  did  not  get 
in,  and  now  form  a  reserve. 

All  French  elections,  whether  legislative  or  municipal, 
are  held  on  one  and  the  same  day,  Sunday  being 
invariably  chosen.  For  a  candidate  to  be  elected 
in  the  first  general  scrutin,  he  must  have  not  only 
a  quarter  of  the  votes  possible  in  any  given  consti- 
tuency, but  also  an  absolute  majority  of  the  votes 
actually  deposited  in  the  urns.  For  example,  in  a  con- 
stituency of  twenty  thousand  voters,  he  must  receive 
at  least  five  thousand  votes ;  and,  if  ten  thousand 
record  their  votes,  he  must  have  of  these  at  least  five 
thousand  and  one.  When  the  several  candidatures  for 
any  one  seat  divide  up  the  votes,  so  that  the  above 
conditions  are  not  realized,  a  ballottage  or  second 
election  is  held  on  the  Sunday  fortnight  after  the  first, 
if  it  is  a  legislative  one,  and  on  the  Sunday  week,  if  it  is 
a  municipal  one.  In  this  second  test  a  simple  majority 
decides ;  and,  in  the  scrutin  $  arrondissement,  as  in  the 


THE   PARLIAMENTARY   SYSTEM     353 

scrutin  de  liste,  when  two  candidates  obtain  equal  votes 
the  elder  has  precedence. 

As  already  mentioned  in  a  previous  chapter,  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies  with  its  five  hundred  and  eighty- 
nine  members  is  elected  for  four  years,  and  usually  ex- 
hausts its  mandate.  The  only  requisites  for  eligibility  in 
France  are  (1)  to  possess  civil  rights  ;  (2)  to  be  twenty- 
five  years  of  age  ;  and  (3)  to  make  a  declaration  of 
candidature  in  one  and  not  more  than  one  constituency. 
Ineligible  exceptionally  are  members  of  families  that 
have  reigned  in  France,  bankrupts  that  have  not  been 
rehabilitated,  foreigners  until  they  have  been  naturalized 
for  ten  years,  and  citizens  while  serving  in  the  army 
or  navy. 

The  Senate  is  composed  of  three  hundred  members 
chosen  by  the  Departments  and  Colonies  according 
to  the  scrutin  de  liste  method.  The  election  is  more- 
over indirect,  the  voters  being  delegates  from  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies,  the  Conseils  Generaux  and 
Conseils  cTarrondissement  (sorts  of  County  Councils). 
The  communes  are  also  represented,  but  their  delegates 
are  taken  from  the  local  Councils,  who  themselves 
nominate.  By  the  constitution  of  1875,  seventy-five 
of  the  three  hundred  senators  were  appointed  members 
for  life.  This  privilege  was  abolished  in  1884,  so  far 
as  any  further  creation  was  concerned. 

Senators  are  elected  for  a  period  of  nine  years  ;  but 
the  renewal  of  the  Senatorial  body  being  by  thirds 
every  three  years,  the  institution  has  a  character  of 
permanence  greater  than  that  of  the  Lower  Chamber. 
The  conditions  of  eligibility  are  the  same  as  for  depu- 
ties, with  this  addition,  that  candidates  must  be  at  least 
forty  years  of  age.     In  the  elections,  two  ballottages 


354     THE   THIRD   FRENCH    REPUBLIC 

may  be  asked  for  before  a  simple  majority  of  the  votes 
recorded  is  accepted. 

The  Chamber  of  Deputies,  as  well  as  the  Senate,  is 
supposed  to  sit  all  the  year  round,  each  annual  session 
beginning  on  the  second  Tuesday  in  January.  Happily 
for  tired  orators  and  harassed  ministers,  Parliamentary 
holidays  are  longer  even  than  school  holidays  ;  so  that, 
in  fact,  the  legislative  year  is  reduced  to  about  six 
months.  With  regard  to  the  validity  of  elections,  the 
Chamber  is  its  own  judge.  Indeed,  the  validating  of 
the  members  is  the  first  business  of  each  new  Parlia- 
ment. For  this  purpose,  a  temporary  Chairman  or 
Speaker  is  appointed,  and,  when  half  the  elections  have 
been  verified,  the  definite  bureau  is  appointed.  Any 
dispute  about  majorities  or  any  petition  against  a 
deputy's  return  is  settled  within  the  walls  of  the 
Palais  Bourbon. 

The  Chairman  or  Speaker,  the  four  Vice- Chairmen, 
the  Secretaries  and  Questeurs  (Members  entrusted  with 
the  surveillance  of  expenses)  are  nominated  for  one 
year ;  but  it  more  often  happens  that  the  Chairman  is 
re-elected,  as  long  as  he  makes  himself  agreeable  to  the 
majority  of  the  Chamber.  Both  Senate  and  Deputies 
give  their  Chairman  a  yearly  stipend  of  seventy-two 
thousand  francs.  The  Members  themselves  used  to 
receive  an  annual  salary  of  nine  thousand  francs. 
Quite  recently  they  have  raised  this  sum  to  fifteen 
thousand.  Besides  these  fees,  they  have  the  privilege 
of  travelling  gratis  on  the  State  railways,  and  enjoy 
immunity  from  prosecution,  criminal  or  civil,  during 
the  Parliamentary  session.  Such  inviolability,  however, 
may  be  lost  either  through  a  vote  of  the  Chambers  or 
if  the  offence  be  flagrante  delicto  ;  and  it  does  not  pro- 


Photograph  :  Dmet 


ROUEN     CATHEDRAL. 

From  the  Picture  by   CLAUDE    MONET 


THE   PARLIAMENTARY   SYSTEM     355 

tect  from  a  fine  for  petty  offences.  Further,  there  is 
a  responsibility  accompanying  the  prerogative.  If  a 
deputy  is  condemned  for  a  cause  entailing  deprivation 
of  eligibility,  he  is  solemnly  deposed  from  his  seat  and 
relegated  to  private  life. 

Allusion  has  already  been  made  to  the  varying  name 
of  a  Bill,  according  as  it  emanates  from  the  initiative  of 
the  President  of  the  Republic  or  from  one  of  the 
Chambers.  There  is  also  a  variation  in  its  treatment. 
The  projet  de  hi  needs  neither  to  be  approved  by  a 
preliminary  Commission,  nor  to  be  taken  into  con- 
sideration. The  more  ordinary  propositions  de  his  are 
submitted  to  these  formalities,  except  in  cases  of 
urgency. 

The  prise  en  consideration,  if  recommended  by  the 
preliminary  Commission  and  voted  by  the  Chamber, 
means  that  the  Bill  is  examined  in  detail  by  a  special 
Commission  appointed  for  the  purpose.  An  amend- 
ment to  the  Bill  comes  under  discussion  either  at  this 
stage  or  in  the  Chamber,  when  the  principal  debate 
is  held ;  and  those  who  propose  amendments  can 
claim  to  be  heard  by  the  special  Commission,  after 
sending  in  their  written  statement  of  objections. 
When  once  the  Bill  is  printed  and  distributed  to  the 
Deputies,  which  is  done  on  the  completion  of  the 
Commission's  labours,  it  may  be  debated  in  a  public 
sitting  within  the  twenty-four  hours. 

Except  in  extraordinary  circumstances,  two  delibera- 
tions, together  with  a  favourable  vote,  are  necessary  for 
a  Bill  to  pass  through  the  Chamber.  The  same  pro- 
cedure is  followed  in  the  Senate ;  and  the  Bill  only 
becomes  law  when  an  identical  text  of  it  has  been 
agreed  to  in  the  two  Chambers,  both  of  which  enjoy 


356     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

equal  rights  in  initiating  or  amending  legislation.  If 
either  of  them  should  reject  a  Bill,  it  cannot  be  re- 
considered until  after  a  lapse  of  three  months ;  and 
then  only  on  the  Government's  proposal.  In  order 
to  avoid  the  rejection  that  may  result  from  the  two 
Chambers  coming  into  conflict,  a  conciliation  Com- 
mittee exists  in  each,  the  two  meeting  when  necessary, 
and  making  recommendations  to  their  respective  assem- 
blies, and  these  latter  in  turn  deliberating  on  the  sug- 
gested compromise.  If,  nevertheless,  the  Bill  falls 
through,  it  may  be  reconsidered  two  months  after, 
instead  of  three. 

The  chief  cause  of  disagreement  between  the  Upper 
and  Lower  Chambers  is  the  annual  Budget,  which 
the  Deputies  have  a  prior  right  to  draw  up  and 
discuss.  This  right  is  not  disputed  by  the  Senate ; 
but  the  Deputies  would  fain  prevent  the  Conscript 
Fathers  from  altering  the  Lower  Chamber's  decisions 
in  financial  affairs,  and  confine  them  to  merely  giving 
their  advice.  A  lively  struggle  occurred  in  1894,  which 
terminated  by  the  Upper  Chamber's  vindicating  its 
claims ;  and,  as  long  as  individual  deputies  are  able  to 
propose  an  increase  in  the  Estimates,  it  is  not  likely 
that  any  diminution  in  these  claims  will  be  allowed. 

The  means  possessed  by  both  Chambers  for  influenc- 
ing the  Government's  action  comprise  (1)  the  questions 
common  to  all  legislative  assemblies  ;  (2)  interpellations, 
which  are  the  favourite  weapon  employed  in  France 
against  Ministerial  majorities ;  and  (3)  the  obligation 
for  Ministers  to  publish  periodical  Yellow  Books,  and 
to  add,  if  required,  verbal  explanations  on  all  that  con- 
cerns their  own  department. 

The  interpellation  consists  first  in  a  written  request 


THE   PARLIAMENTARY   SYSTEM     357 

addressed  to  the  Chairman  of  the  Chamber  for  a  day 
to  be  fixed  on  which  the  question  raised  may  be  dis- 
cussed. The  Chairman  consults  the  deputies  or 
senators,  and  a  date  is  given,  If  the  question  is  one 
of  foreign  policy,  the  Minister  attacked  may  ask  the 
Chamber  to  choose  a  date  which  practically  shelves 
discussion.  In  questions  of  home  policy,  a  month  is 
the  longest  delay  that  can  be  obtained.  If  the  inter- 
pellation has  not  been  withdrawn  by  its  originator 
before  the  time  accorded  for  its  discussion,  it  is  dealt 
with  in  one  of  three  ways.  (1)  The  Members  can 
vote  an  o?'dre  du  jour  pur  et  simple,  which  means  that, 
after  hearing  both  sides,  they  pass  without  further 
comment  to  the  other  business  they  have  in  hand. 
(2)  They  can  vote  an  ordre  du  jour  motive ;  in  other 
words,  they  pass  a  resolution  approving  or  blaming  the 
Government.  (3)  They  can  refuse  all  discussion  of 
the  interpellation,  if  judged  untimely  or  unconstitu- 
tional. Of  course,  the  Minister  attacked  may,  if  he 
likes,  refuse  to  answer,  though,  in  so  doing,  he  exposes 
himself  to  blame  on  this  score. 

In  rare  cases,  both  Chambers  are  called  upon  to  act 
in  a  judiciary  capacity,  the  Senate  as  judge  and  jury, 
and  the  Deputies  as  a  sort  of  Grand  Jury  returning  a 
true  bill  of  accusation  or  throwing  the  accusation  out. 
This  would  naturally  happen,  if  a  President  of  the 
Republic  were  impeached  of  High  Treason,  or  a 
Minister,  of  a  crime  committed  while  in  the  exercise 
of  his  functions.  The  Senate,  indeed,  is  a  permanent 
High  Court  of  Justice,  competent  to  deal  with  all 
offences  against  the  State,  and,  during  the  Third 
Republic,  has  on  several  occasions  judged  in  this 
capacity. 


358     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

When  united  and  agreeing,  both  Chambers  like- 
wise have  a  power  enabling  them  to  revise  and  modify 
constitutional  laws.  Such  revision  could  only  be 
carried  out  at  Versailles  in  a  common  assembly  voting 
by  an  absolute  majority.  The  last  attempt  of  the  kind 
made  was  that  of  Monsieur  Naquet  on  March  15th, 
1894.  His  proposal  to  amend  the  Constitution  met 
with  little  or  no  support,  however ;  and,  since  then, 
any  agitation  in  favour  of  a  change  has  been  only 
outside  the  precincts  of  Parliament. 

Unique  in  Europe  is  the  French  Conseil  cVEtat,  which 
besides  its  advisory  functions  in  matters  of  administra- 
tion, its  privilege  of  initiative,  together  with  the 
President,  in  the  proposing  of  laws,  acts  as  a  tribunal 
in  a  way  that  makes  its  existence  one  of  the  greatest 
boons  of  the  Republican  Constitution.  It  descends 
from  the  old  Conseil  du  Roi  or  King's  Privy  Council, 
and  was  first  modernized  by  Napoleon  I,  who  used  its 
members  in  framing  his  Code.  Under  the  Second 
Republic,  it  obtained  a  certain  jurisdictional  power, 
which,  however,  was  lost  on  the  accession  of  Napoleon 
III.  Again  invested  with  the  right  of  civil  judging, 
in  the  year  1872,  it  had  this  function  confirmed  and 
enlarged  in  1888  and  1900  ;  and  is  now  able  to  pro- 
tect the  citizen  against  Parliament  and  even  members 
of  the  Executive,  high  as  well  as  low,  if  they  overstep 
their  domain  or  are  guilty  of  injustice.  That  this 
jurisdiction  is  not  a  mere  legal  fiction  is  proved  by  the 
thousands  of  cases  that  have  been  decided  between  State 
officers  and  the  public,  and  not  infrequently  in  favour 
of  the  individual  against  the  State.  In  fact,  so  precious 
has  its  aid  been,  and  so  bold  its  action,  that  the  Society 
for  the  Defence  of  the  Rights  of  Man  has  more  than 


THE   PARLIAMENTARY   SYSTEM     359 

once  been  moved  to  express  its  gratitude  to  this 
Supreme  Council  of  Equity. 

Every  care  has  been  taken  to  render  its  members 
independent  of  pressure  from  interested  parties.  They 
are  paid,  sit  only  for  a  fixed  period,  and  may  not  hold, 
at  the  same  time,  any  other  salaried  public  office. 
There  are  ninety-eight  ordinary  members  and  eighteen 
extraordinary,  the  former  being  elected,  the  latter 
sitting  de  officio.  Moreover,  in  their  judiciary  capacity, 
they  hold  open  court  and  can  compel  the  appearance  of 
any  citizen,  whatever  his  official  position. 

The  Government  Departments  now  provided  with 
a  Minister  are  twelve  in  number :  the  Interior,  Foreign 
Affairs,  War,  Marine,  Finance,  Public  Instruction  with 
the  Beaux  Arts,  Public  Works,  Agriculture,  Commerce, 
the  Post  Office,  Labour  (a  new  creation),  and  Justice. 
With  the  last  mentioned  there  used  to  be  coupled 
Public  Worship,  but  the  disestablishment  of  the  Church 
has  done  away  with  this  ministerial  responsibility. 

Administratively  and  electorally,  France  is  divided 
into  eighty-nine  Departments,  which  again  are  sub- 
divided into  '  arrondissements.'  The  arrondissement 
can  also  be  the  subdivision  of  a  large  town,  Paris 
having  twenty.  The  canton  is  a  section  of  the  arron- 
dissement, but  has  only  a  judiciary  character,  whereas 
the  commune  has  preserved  somewhat  of  its  old  feudal 
existence,  being  originally  a  chartered  '  bourg '  or  city 
having  the  right  of  self-government.  To-day,  it  is 
a  territorial  division  administered  by  a  Mayor  and 
Municipal  Council.  Of  such  communes  there  are 
thirty-six  thousand  one  hundred  and  twenty-one. 
Some  have  a  very  large  population,  Paris,  for  instance, 
with  its  nearly  three   million  inhabitants,  and  some, 


360    THE  THIRD  FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

a  very  small  one.  Morteau  contains  only  twelve 
people.  This  commune  is  the  smallest.  However, 
there  are  seven  hundred  and  sixty-eight  with  a  popula- 
tion under  a  hundred,  and  seventeen  thousand  with 
fewer  than  five  hundred  inhabitants.  The  Mayor  and 
Municipality  of  Morteau  have  an  easy  time  of  it.  In 
Paris,  each  arrondissement  has  its  own  Mayor  ;  but  the 
city  or  commune  has  none.  Instead,  the  Prefect  of 
the  Seine  sits  with  the  Municipal  Council,  and  acts  as 
a  Government  censor.  The  Council  dislike  such  grand- 
motherly surveillance,  and  would  prefer  having  their 
Lord  Mayor. 

The  Prefect  in  each  Department  is  the  State's 
representative,  with  functions  mostly  derived  from 
those  of  the  Intendant  of  the  ancient  regime.  He  is 
an  intermediary  between  Government  and  citizens ; 
and,  under  the  Republic,  is  appointed  by  the  Minister 
for  the  Interior.  He  himself  has  the  right  to  appoint 
certain  petty  functionaries.  Further,  he  checks  the 
action  of  the  various  municipalities  in  his  Department, 
passes  bargains  for  the  execution  of  public  works, 
authorizes  public  expenses,  distributes  credits,  repre- 
sents the  State  before  Civil  Tribunals  and  local  juris- 
dictions, renders  taxes  executory,  takes  care  of  public 
property  and  hygiene,  and  proposes  the  budget  of  the 
Conseils  Generaux.  Altogether  he  is  an  important 
officer,  and  receives  a  salary  rising  from  18,000  to 
35,000  francs.  The  Prefet  de  la  Seine,  holding  the 
premier  post,  receives  50,000. 


XVII 

CONCLUSION 

The  main  interest  of  French  national  life  since  1870 
lies  in  its  having  discovered  a  river  bed  giving  it  the 
possibility  of  a  permanent  way  towards  the  ocean  of 
societies  to  come.  Content  with  being  a  means,  not 
an  end,  the  Republic  has  persisted.  A  second  general 
interest  lies  in  a  number  of  important  changes  made 
in  the  country's  government,  institutions,  laws  and 
language.  Each  has  been  obtained  at  the  price  of  con- 
troversies, some  of  which  have  brought  the  nation 
perilously  near  to  catastrophes.  That  these  latter  have 
been  avoided  is  a  proof  that  French  character  in  bulk 
has  gained,  through  past  experience,  elements  of  quiet 
strength  capable  of  dominating  excesses  of  tempera- 
ment. 

Fiercest  of  all  struggles  has  been  that  concerning  the 
army,  the  disputants  being  those  who  wished  to  make 
it  the  instrument  of  the  Revanche,  the  Restoration,  or 
both ;  those  who  wished  to  abolish  it  altogether,  and 
those  who  wished  to  transform  it  into  an  organization 
aiming  only  at  defence  and  at  education  in  civic  virtues. 
The  last  have  so  far  triumphed.  They  have  triumphed 
because  they  based  their  reforms  upon  a  satisfaction  of 
the  national  sentiment.  This  sentiment  demanded  that 
the  army  should  be  rendered  thoroughly  effective,  and 
superior  in  every  respect  to  what  it  was  before  the 

.^6 1 


362    THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

war.  Towards  the  attainment  of  such  efficiency  and 
superiority  all  parties  contributed.  Parliament  never 
hesitated  to  vote  the  annual  sums  of  money  required. 
Every  possible  improvement  in  arms  and  equipment 
and  tactics  was  eagerly  sought,  and  adopted  as  soon  as 
found.  Between  1870  and  1903,  the  active  forces  on 
a  peace  footing  were  raised  from  394,000  to  over 
600,000  men,  and  the  War  Budget  was  proportionately 
increased  from  376  to  688  millions. 

Unquestionably,  it  was  the  country's  quick  military 
recovery  which  hastened  the  signing  of  the  Franco- 
Russian  Alliance.  True,  the  Russians  wanted  French 
capital ;  finance  was  an  essential  factor  in  the  agree- 
ment. Yet,  but  for  the  feasibility  of  military  co-opera- 
tion, no  formal  pledges  would  have  been  exchanged. 
To  a  less  extent,  the  same  fact  was  responsible  for  the 
Mediterranean  understandings  of  more  recent  years. 
Commercial  reasons  and  also  sentimental  reasons  had 
something  to  do  with  the  rapprochement  between  Italy 
and  France  and  Spain  and  France ;  but,  against  Ger- 
many's pressure,  they  could  have  availed  nothing, 
without  the  growing  military  force  of  France  to 
counteract  it. 

Parallel  to  this  growth,  there  was  a  gradual  modifi- 
cation of  tone  in  German  diplomacy  and  the  German 
press  towards  the  Republic.  During  the  seventies,  the 
Chancellor  and  his  official  journals,  more  often  than 
not,  used  language  which  was  either  comminatory  or 
overbearing.  After  the  conclusion  of  the  Alliance, 
both  style  and  matter  were  altered  ;  there  were  periods 
of  coaxing  alternating  with  scoldings,  like  those  be- 
stowed by  a  dominating  husband  on  a  self-willed  wife. 
This  later  manner  has  not  yet  entirely  ceased,  as  the 


CONCLUSION  363 

Moroccan  affair  abundantly  shows.  Still,  the  Trans- 
Rhenan  Chancellory  is  learning,  though  tardily,  to 
treat  France  with  the  circumspection  and  courtesy 
due  between  equals. 

So  much  the  army  has  accomplished  in  the  domain 
of  diplomacy  and  international  relations ;  and  more  it 
can  hardly  realize.  The  revision  of  the  Treaty  of 
Frankfort  is  no  longer  its  object,  even  if,  in  the  earlier 
days  of  the  Republic's  rule,  those  who  presided  at  its 
resurrection  toiled  in  that  hope.  Fate,  which  is 
stronger  than  will,  has  made  the  reconquest  of  Alsace- 
Lorraine  an  impossibility.  Alone,  the  formation  of 
one  European  Commonwealth  could  henceforth,  in 
any  sense,  effect  the  reunion  of  these  provinces  and 
France. 

Probably,  next  to  the  Dreyfus  Affair,  the  tacit  recog- 
nition of  the  territorial  statu  quo  has  helped  most  the 
efforts  of  those  who  are  striving  to  make  the  army 
democratic  in  the  best  conception  of  the  word,  to 
render  it  a  training  school  in  which  the  acquired 
qualities  of  military  courage,  obedience  and  sacrifice 
may  be  supplemented  with  higher  virtues  of  moral 
discipline,  mutual  respect,  forbearance  and  esteem. 

A  fervent  apostle  of  this  reform  is  Georges  Duruy,  a 
son  of  Victor  Duruy  the  Minister,  and  Professor  of 
History  at  the  Ecole  Polytechnique.  One  day,  Mon- 
sieur Duruy  went  to  the  AVar  Office  and  asked  for  an 
interview  with  his  hierarchic  chief.  '  Mr.  Minister,'  he 
said,  '  I  want  you  to  give  me  an  order.'  The  Minister 
for  War  smiled  ;  he  wondered  what  order  it  was  that 
the  eminent  Professor  desired.  '  I  want  you,'  pursued 
the  visitor,  'to  order  me  to  give  my  class  of  military 
cadets  in  the  school  a  series  of  lessons  on  the  duties  of 


364    THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

every  army  officer  as  a  social  educator  of  those  who, 
for  the  time  being,  are  under  his  command.'  And 
with  these  introductory  sentences,  Monsieur  Duruy 
proceeded  to  expose  his  plan  in  detail.  The  result 
was  that  the  order  was  given,  and  the  military  career 
officially  provided  with  a  fresh  ideal.  Perhaps  the 
Professor  himself  does  not  see  as  far  as  the  remoter 
consequences  of  his  teaching.  But,  when  the  further 
reduction  of  military  service  arrives,  as  it  must  before 
very  long,  and  its  burden  is  diminished  to  a  minimum 
that  can  be  cheerfully  borne  by  all,  the  conditions 
required  for  such  teaching  to  be  put  into  practice  suc- 
cessfully will  be  much  more  easily  obtainable  than  at 
present,  and  the  best  uses  of  a  citizen-army  much 
more  clearly  perceived. 

# 

The  Church  and  State  quarrel,  with  which  the 
problem  of  youthful  education  is  so  intimately  con- 
nected, has  not  yet  been  terminated.  However,  the 
phase  into  which  it  has  now  entered  may  safely  be  said 
to  be  final  as  regards  the  exclusion  of  clerical  influence 
from  all  State  institutions.  The  Republic,  in  depriving 
the  Catholic  Church,  and  indeed  any  other  Church  in 
France,  of  the  arrogant  claim  to  be  the  supreme  judge 
in  morals,  has  proclaimed  morality's  independence 
of  religion  in  so  far  as  religion  pretends  to  possess 
infallibility  or  authority  not  derived  from  experience. 
The  Republic's  position  is  that  right  and  wrong 
have  only  to  do  with  relations  of  people  to  each 
other,  and  that  the  attempt  of  any  Church  or 
Churches  to  determine  right  and  wrong  by  virtue 
of  an  extra-terrestrial    mandate    is    no   more    to    be 


CONCLUSION  365 

tolerated  to-day  than  the  old  exploded  doctrine  of  the 
divine  authority  of  kings.  Consequently  Christianity, 
or  any  other  religion,  however  respectable  its  tenets, 
can  only  be  allowed  to  exist  as  a  public  organization 
by  submission  to  the  State ;  and,  if  its  adherents, 
whether  bishops,  priests  or  laymen,  preach  revolt 
against  the  laws  of  the  land,  they  must  be  dealt  with 
as  offenders,  and  rendered  impotent  to  continue  their 
offence. 

For  the  moment,  the  rebellion  of  bishops  and  priests 
against  the  Government  is  likely  to  continue.  The 
Pope  and  his  advisers  imagine  that  history  will  repeat 
itself,  and  flatter  themselves  that  the  episcopacy  will 
again  do  as  the  successor  of  St.  Peter  and  seat  its  chiefs 
in  the  places  of  emperors,  kings  and  presidents.  Un- 
fortunately for  their  hopes,  modern  societies  are  less 
and  less  inclined  to  imitate  the  past,  and  decadent 
empires  are  resuscitating  without  inviting  the  Vatican's 
aid.  The  resistance  of  the  laity  to  the  Government's 
religious  policy  is  largely  due  to  their  fear  of  the 
priests,  who  never  hesitate  to  threaten  Church  people 
with  damnation  if  they  send  their  children  to  State 
Schools.  Until  the  spread  of  instruction  and  enlighten- 
ment shall  have  destroyed  the  superstition  that  causes 
people  to  believe  in  the  priest's  power  to  dispense 
rewards  and  punishments  in  a  future  life,  the  State  has 
to  find  some  way  of  nullifying  its  action.  And  every- 
thing seems  to  point  to  the  adoption  of  a  State 
monopoly  in  education,  at  least  as  far  as  primary  and 
secondary  instruction  are  concerned.  There  are  incon- 
veniences attaching  to  this  method  of  defence.  It  is 
not  one  to  be  approved  a  priori.  But  the  fight  is  with 
an    adversary   who    has    always    approved    and   used 


366     THE   THIRD   FRENCH    REPUBLIC 

monopoly  when  she  was  the  monopolist,  and  who 
therefore  cannot  complain  of  its  being  employed  by 
the  State  against  herself. 

The  eviction  of  Catholicism  from  its  political  ascen- 
dancy has  been  rendered  possible  because  of  the 
enormous  shrinkage  in  the  number  of  its  adherents. 
According  to  the  computation  of  the  Bishop  of 
Annecy  and  of  the  Univers  (a  Catholic  organ)  there 
are  no  more  than  ten  million  professing  Catholics  in 
France  to-day  ;  and  of  these  very  many  are  only  occa- 
sional attendants  at  mass.  Add  to  them  about  a 
million  or  so  of  Protestants,  and  there  are  two- thirds 
of  the  population  whose  only  connection  with  Chris- 
tianity is  that  they  have  perhaps  been  baptized. 

The  vast  majority  of  the  nation,  therefore,  have 
abandoned  the  Christian  faith,  without  adopting,  save 
in  a  few  scattered  conventicles,  any  other  dogmatic 
creed.  They  remain  free-thinkers,  with  their  own 
individual  notions  and  theories  about  the  world  and 
life ;  and  do  their  duty  as  parents  and  citizens  as  well 
as  their  Catholic  fellow-countrymen.  From  such  com- 
parisons as  are  forthcoming  between  the  two  categories 
in  the  middle  class,  which  is  the  fairest  standard  to 
judge  by,  it  would  appear  that  there  are  fewer  breaches 
of  morality  among  those  who  would  be  styled  '  un- 
believers.' In  the  last  quarter  of  a  century,  ethical 
culture  circles,  called  '  cercles  laiques,'  have  multiplied 
considerably.  All  of  them  have  a  moral  and  social  end 
in  view,  and  succeed  in  grouping  large  numbers  of  the 
young  for  the  purpose  of  self-improvement. 

Of  the  newer  creeds,  Theosophy  alone  has  gained 
a  certain  footing  in  the  country,  branches  for  its  study 
and  practice  now  existing  in   the    chief  towns.     The 


CONCLUSION  367 

general  attitude  of  the  modern  French  unorthodox 
mind  is  neither  materialistic  nor  yet  entirely  pantheistic. 
It  is  rather  that  of  a  man  who  finds  no  doctrine  of 
causes  logical,  reasonable  and  understandable,  and 
prefers  to  leave  the  matter  alone.  The  word  agnostic 
is  as  much  French  in  its  application  as  English,  and 
probably  more.  The  slight  Catholic  reaction  of  the 
nineties,  already  mentioned,  seems  to  have  been  strictly 
confined  to  the  French  Academy's  sphere  of  influence  ; 
and  modern  French  psychology,  with  its  spiritual  inter- 
pretation of  phenomena,  has  too  much  of  the  obscurity 
of  Haldane's  Pathway  to  Reality  about  it  to  be  acces- 
sible to  the  ordinary  thinker.  There  are  signs  that  the 
French  clergy,  freed  from  their  subservience  to  the 
State  and  adopting  a  bolder  attitude  towards  their 
bishops,  will  make  future  Catholicism  in  France  a  more 
vital  thing  than  it  has  been.  But  in  the  process  it  is 
not  unlikely  that  orthodoxy  will  go  by  the  board. 

# 

While  the  evolution  of  the  French  democracy,  with 
its  trend  towards  Socialism,  has  not  been  an  altogether 
peaceful  one  during  the  reign  of  the  Republic,  for 
workmen's  strikes  have  been  frequent  and  on  several 
occasions  have  been  accompanied  by  riot  and  bloodshed, 
it  has  yet  provoked  less  bitter  feeling  than  either  the 
Church  or  army  agitation.  This  is  partly  owing  to 
the  fact  that  France  is  already,  through  her  inheritance 
of  the  First  Revolution  and  Napoleonic  legislation, 
and  also  through  her  habit  of  centralization,  much 
more  Socialistic  than  other  European  countries.  Not 
to  speak  of  conscription,  which  is  pure  Socialism,  there 
are  a  thousand  points  at  which  the  individual  is  laid 


368     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

hold  of  by  the  State  and  prevented  from  acting  except 
in  accordance  with  the  community  or  family  or 
Government.  Even  death  does  not  free  him  from  such 
restrictions,  since  the  State  dictates  to  him  the  disposal 
of  his  property  by  will  and  testament.  Therefore,  the 
notion  of  the  State  enlarging  its  role  is  not  one  to 
which  the  Frenchman  instinctively  objects. 

Naturally,  there  are  strong  Individualists  of  the 
Herbert  Spencer  type  in  France,  but  they  are  a 
small  minority.  The  rank  and  file  of  the  so-called 
non-Socialists,  whether  among  the  Rights,  the  Centres 
or  the  Lefts,  protest  rather  against  certain  special 
doctrines  held  by  the  various  sections  of  Socialists  than 
against  the  common,  fundamental  principle.  What 
frightens  them  most  is  the  seeming  progress  of  the 
Collectivist  or  Communist  party  represented  by  Jaures, 
as  distinguished  from  the  older  party  of  ordinary  State 
Socialism.  Their  consolation  is  that  Monsieur  Jaures 
has  not  yet  brought  in  his  Bill  for  the  expropriation  of 
the  Capitalists,  an  expropriation  presumably  differing 
from  that  which  resulted  in  the  Familisterc  de  Guise, 
and  certainly  less  equitable  to  the  individual. 

The  founder  of  this  Familistere  was  a  Monsieur 
A.  J.  B.  Godin.  In  his  early  manhood  a  journeyman 
tinker,  he  was  converted  to  the  doctrines  of  Fourrier 
and  Saint- Simon.  Having  managed  to  save  enough 
money  to  start  in  business  on  his  own  account,  he 
established  at  Guise  a  small  manufactory  of  kitchen 
utensils  and  heating  apparatus.  Wishing  to  try  the 
experiment  of  associating  his  employees  with  himself 
and  of  forming  a  sort  of  phalanstery,  he  built  a  block 
of  dwelling-flats  on  a  piece  of  ground  close  to  the 
works,  rented  these  at  a  low  rate  to  the  workmen,  and 


g    « 


ft      o 


CONCLUSION  369 

began,  at  the  same  time,  to  distribute  to  them  a  portion 
of  his  profits,  and  to  instruct  them  in  his  scheme.  In 
1880,  the  Association  proper  was  created.  Monsieur 
Godin  invested  in  it  a  capital  of  4,600,000  francs,  in 
the  name  of  the  corporate  members,  and  received  in 
lieu  a  yearly  salary  of  15,000  francs,  plus  an  annual 
interest  of  five  per  cent  on  his  investment.  When  the 
yearly  expenses  of  the  concern,  including  the  education 
of  the  children  belonging  to  the  Familistere,  were  paid, 
the  remaining  profits  were  shared  among  all  the  mem- 
bers according  to  the  salary  of  each.  In  round  num- 
bers this  division  meant  about  two-thirds  for  the 
workmen  and  a  third  for  himself.  However,  instead  of 
paying  the  profits  in  cash  he  used  them  to  convert  the 
men  into  shareholders,  so  that  the  original  capital  might 
be  paid  off.  At  his  death,  the  redemption  not  being 
completely  effected,  he  bequeathed  over  a  million  and 
a  half  to  the  Familistere  for  that  purpose. 

This  essay,  shrewdly  carried  through,  and  without 
spoliation,  produced  not  a  Collectivist  community  in 
Monsieur  Jaures'  understanding  of  the  term,  but  a 
group  of  workmen  capitalists  bound  together  in  one 
enterprise,  each  of  them  being  a  part  owner,  and  the 
family  of  each  participating  equally  in  a  number  of 
most  important  advantages.  The  weak  side  of  the 
enterprise — and  of  others  that  have  since  been  engaged 
in  on  similar  lines — is  that,  being  carried  on  amidst  a 
contrary  system  of  competition  that  isolates  instead  of 
binding,  there  is  the  same  risk  of  failure  as  is  incurred 
by  all  commercial  and  manufacturing  undertakings. 

The  problem  posed  for  the  consideration  of  the 
sociologist  is  whether,  instead  of  the  Collectivism  pre- 
conized   by  Jaures  and  Guesde,   labour   communities 


370     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

could  not  themselves  be  grouped  and  federations  be 
formed  which  might  mitigate  or  remove  the  evils  of 
competition  without  destroying  private  capitalism.  At 
any  rate,  in  France,  any  change  involving  a  vital  attack 
on  capital  has  but  little  chance  of  success,  since  the 
democracy  with  whose  support  such  attack  would  have 
to  be  made  is  in  majority  composed  of  capitalists.  In 
addition  to  those  of  the  population  employed  in  agri- 
culture, who  mainly  own  the  land  they  cultivate,  there 
are  no  fewer  than  594,000  small  business  or  manufac- 
turing concerns  employing  from  one  to  twenty  people  ; 
— in  1896,  there  were  573,000,  so  that  the  increase  in  a 
decade  or  so  has  been  more  than  twenty  thousand. 
Facts  like  these  must  be  taken  into  account  by  im- 
patient politicians.  The  solution  of  the  social  question, 
however  pressing,  cannot  be  identical  in  every  country. 
It  will  have  to  be  made  in  accordance  with  the 
circumstances  and  character  of  the  people  to  whom  it 
is  applied.  And  the  French  people,  however  prone  to 
rely  on  the  State,  are  averse  from  any  collectivism 
wider  than  that  of  the  family. 


=5F 


A  good  deal  has  been  written  in  the  last  ten  years 
about  depopulation  in  France.  The  phenomenon,  such 
as  it  is,  has  become  more  apparent  during  the  Third 
Republican  era,  without  being  peculiar  to  it.  In  1906, 
there  were  109,000  fewer  births  than  a  century  before, 
in  spite  of  the  inhabitants  being  39,000,000  against 
29,000,000  in  1806.  This  means  a  relative  decrease  of 
one  per  cent.  Yet  in  1906  marriages  were  relatively,  as 
well  as  absolutely,  more  numerous,  302,623  against 
210,000  in  1806. 


CONCLUSION  371 

From  these  facts  and  others  carefully  collated  by- 
statisticians,  gloomy  conclusions  have  been  drawn  by 
anxious  patriots,  some  of  whom  charge  the  Republic 
with  preparing  the  day  when  the  French  population 
will  have  been  reduced  to  a  solitary  couple.  Heroic 
remedies  have  been  proposed  for  the  evil — if  evil  there 
be :  the  heavy  taxing  of  celibates  and  families  without 
children,  the  granting  of  subventions  to  happy  families 
having  their  quiver  full  of  them,  the  making  of 
marriage  compulsory,  in  fine,  anything  and  everything 
short  of  polygamy.  Yet  the  birth-rate  either  declines 
or  remains  practically  stationary  ;  nor  is  it  probable  that 
artificial  remedies  will  raise  it,  since  the  check  has  been 
mainly  brought  about  by  people's  growing  prudence, 
the  result  of  education  and  reflection.  Legislation 
too  against  recalcitrant  celibates  or  households  would 
certainly  fail  in  its  object;  and  the  victims  of  it,  if  heavily 
burdened,  would  simply  quit  their  native  country. 

In  reality,  this  falling  of  the  birth-rate  is  not  a 
danger  to  the  nation's  future  ;  it  will  not  go  beyond  the 
limit  at  which  families  can  provide  for  their  offspring 
in  comfort.  Nor  is  it  a  menace  to  the  nation's  military 
security.  For  purposes  of  defence  against  the  forcible 
intrusion  of  a  more  populous  neighbour  such  as 
Germany,  the  present  average  of  nearly  forty  millions, 
which  judicious  measures  can  render  constant,  will 
amply  suffice,  if  the  army  they  furnish  be  maintained  in 
a  condition  of  efficiency.  France  is  rather  to  be 
congratulated  than  pitied  on  her  reaction  against 
nature's  brute  law ;  she  offers  the  Government  of  the 
Republic  an  opportunity  of  suppressing  pauperism,  and  of 
thus  increasing  the  vigour  of  the  whole  corporate  body. 


372     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

The  colonial  expansion  of  France  since  1870  has 
rivalled  with  that  of  Great  Britain  both  by  its  rapidity 
and  its  importance.  Bismarck  favoured  instead  of 
thwarting  this  phase  of  the  country's  renascent  energy. 
He  is  said  to  have  hoped  it  would  bring  her  into  con- 
flict with  England  ;  and  he  certainly  thought  it  would 
distract  her  attention  from  the  lost  provinces.  French 
colonies,  however,  while  affording  advantageous  fields 
for  agriculture  and  commerce,  have  not  attracted 
many  settlers  from  the  fatherland.  Not  even  to 
Algeria,  which,  on  account  of  its  proximity,  might 
almost  be  considered  a  prolongation  of  France,  do 
Frenchmen  emigrate  much  ;  they  are  a  minority  of  the 
European  inhabitants  in  Algeria,  and  do  not  number 
more  than  three  hundred  thousand,  though  this  colony 
has  been  French  now  for  half  a  century.  Persevering 
efforts  have  been  made  in  the  last  few  years  to  create  a 
movement  of  emigration  towards  Tonkin  and  Mada- 
gascar ;  but  these  places,  for  climatic  reasons,  are 
hardly  likely  to  obtain  a  very  large  French  population. 
A  better  opportunity  is  afforded  by  the  north-west  of 
Africa  to  any  scheme  of  State-encouraged  settlement 
abroad.  If  a  greater  France  is  to  be  created  beyond 
the  seas,  it  must  be  chiefly  in  Algeria  and  Morocco. 


# 
#      # 


Languages  evolve  under  any  regime ;  and  the  French 
language  has  changed  considerably  since  the  age  of 
Rabelais.  Unfortunately,  while  gaining  in  richness  and 
force,  it  has  gained  too  in  grammatical  complexity, 
which  is  a  quality  less  serviceable  to  the  ordinary 
speaker  and  writer  than  to  the  professional  gram- 
marian. 


CONCLUSION  373 

The  story  runs  that  Prosper  Merimee  once  gave  a 
piece  of  dictation  to  some  assembled  guests  at  the 
Court  of  Napoleon  III ;  and  the  Empress,  who  joined 
in  the  exercise,  had  eighty  mistakes  in  her  copy.  It  is 
true  that  Merimee  had  specially  composed  the  passage 
for  the  occasion. 

As  far  as  orthography  is  concerned,  French  is  prob- 
ably no  more  difficult  to  a  Frenchman  than  English  is 
to  an  Englishman ;  but  it  is  not  easy.  Even  in  the 
commonest  vocabulary,  homonyms  are  frequent,  and 
irregularities  are  numerous,  which  betray  the  unwary 
person  into  slips  ;  so  that  one  is  not  astonished  to  find  a 
genius  like  Rosa  Bonheur  disdaining  correctness  in 
spelling  and  filling  her  sprightly  letters  with  an  ortho- 
graphy of  her  own  that  would  have  inevitably  plucked 
her  at  the  examination  for  the  Brevet  simple. 

Where  the  difficulty  really  begins  is  in  syntax. 
Genders,  plurals,  the  agreement  of  participles,  and  the 
subjunctives —  all  have  rules  that  are  the  despair  of  the 
educated  Frenchman.  A  veritable  Chinese  puzzle ! 
confesses  the  professor ;  and  the  pupil,  indulging  in  a 
stronger  epithet,  is  of  the  same  opinion.  As  long  as 
instruction  was  almost  entirely  literary,  it  was  possible 
for  the  student,  by  dint  of  long  application,  to  acquire  a 
fairly  complete  knowledge  of  the  elegant  art  of  writing ; 
but,  in  proportion  as  programmes  were  widened,  aspir- 
ants for  University  degrees  often  found  themselves 
rejected  for  venial  solecisms  that  had  little  to  do  with 
their  general  intelligence.  Groaning  under  this  burden, 
they  looked  to  the  Academie  Francaise  for  relief — to 
the  Academy  by  whose  will  and  authority  alone  any 
alteration  could  be  introduced  into  the  structure  of  the 
language.     But   the    '  Forty's '  habit   is  to  be  always 


374    THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

behind  the  time.  With  the  rate  of  progress  at  present 
made  in  the  new  Academy  dictionary,  it  will  be  com- 
pleted in  about  a  hundred  years'  time.  In  their  revised 
dictionary  of  1818,  the  Academy  ventured  on  a  few 
modifications  in  spelling — these  not  very  consistent, 
since  the  Greek  h  is  suppressed  in  rythme  after  the  r 
and  preserved  in  rhcteur.  But  they  did  practically 
nothing  towards  simplifying  grammar — except  in  their 
individual  writing,  where  solecisms  may  be  discovered. 
At  last,  the  Minister  for  Public  Instruction,  in  the 
beginning  of  this  twentieth  century,  issued  a  sort  of 
decree  of  tolerance,  by  which  candidates  for  the  Bac- 
calaureat,  and  other  examinations  held  under  the 
Government's  auspices,  were  freed  from  the  observance 
of  rules  depending  on  fine-drawn  distinctions.  It  was 
a  step  in  the  direction  of  a  language  reform  which, 
although  not  yet  sanctioned  by  the  Academy  nor  by 
men  of  letters,  will,  ere  the  century  is  much  older, 
become  an  accomplished  fact. 


In  speaking  of  the  Republic's  commercial  progress, 
the  fact  cannot  be  overlooked  that  it  has  been  obtained 
under  a  policy  of  Protection,  substituted  for  that  of  the 
Second  Empire,  which  was  not  very  different  from  that 
of  Great  Britain.  The  commercial  receipts  of  1906 
amounted  to  about  four  hundred  and  ten  millions 
sterling,  while  those  of  1870  were  barely  more  than 
the  half  of  this  sum.  Of  course,  the  year  of  the  war 
was  an  exceptionally  bad  one  for  trade,  so  that  the 
hundred  per  cent  augmentation  wants  discounting. 
However,  if  only  the  last  twenty  years  are  taken,  they 
exhibit  an  increase  of   sixteen  per  cent.      The  three 


CONCLUSION  375 

nations  whose  commerce  has  progressed  more  quickly 
are  Great  Britain,  Germany  and  the  United  States,  the 
rise  being  respectively  thirty-four,  sixty-six,  and  eighty 
per  cent ;  and,  in  their  case,  one  cause  of  the  superiority 
is  the  growth  of  population. 

That  the  Republic  was  wise  in  reverting  to  Protec- 
tion, France  has  never  doubted  ;  that  Monsieur  Meline's 
party  carried  the  policy  to  an  excess,  the  country  has 
amply  acknowledged.  The  principles  guiding  the 
conduct  of  Parliament  are  these :  unlike  the  Free 
Importers  of  Cobden's  school,  they  held  that  the 
producer,  in  other  words,  the  worker,  ought  to  be  con- 
sidered first,  since,  unless  he  produced,  he  could  not 
consume ;  whereas  the  rich  could  consume  without  its 
being  necessary  for  him  to  work.  Seeing,  therefore, 
that  between  the  interest  of  the  producer  and  the 
consumer  a  choice  must  be  made,  they  deemed  it 
advisable  to  choose  the  interest  which,  if  any  one  were 
to  suffer,  would  cause  it  to  be  the  rich.  They  determined 
that,  as  far  as  in  them  lay,  every  man  should  have  work, 
that  to  this  end  home  agriculture,  manufacturing  and 
trade  should  be  preserved  against  undermining  agencies, 
that,  in  the  measure  in  which  the  country  was  able  to 
furnish  articles  of  consumption  for  the  population's 
requirements,  outside  supplies  should  be  discouraged, 
and  that  an  intelligent  Government  control  should  be 
exercised  over  the  exchange  of  goods  with  foreign 
countries,  not  allowing  sudden  attacks  to  be  made  on 
this  or  that  portion  of  home  activity,  by  which  it 
was  liable  to  be  destroyed  and  the  foreigner  would 
be  subsequently  enabled  to  sell  his  articles  at  his  own 
price.  In  a  word,  the  policy  pursued  was  one  of 
defence ;  and,  under  the  gradually  elaborated  system 


376     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

of  commercial  treaties,  has  in  the  main  worked  to  the 
profit  of  the  nation.  There  are  still  improvements 
that  might  be  effected,  since  duties  are  maintained  on 
articles  that  the  country  cannot  produce,  and  no  one 
is  protected.  Moreover,  as  some  of  the  articles  in 
question  come  from  only  one  or  two  sources  and 
competition  between  foreign  importers  is  not  sufficient 
to  force  these  outsiders  to  pay  the  duties,  which  indeed 
are  rather  high,  the  French  consumer  pays  dearly  for 
them,  without  any  compensation  that  is  adequate. 
But  then,  the  English  consumer  is  treated  in  the  same 
way  by  a  Government  which  defends  free  imports  as  a 
dogma. 


To  some  extent  the  institution  of  marriage  in  France 
has  been  modified  in  the  direction  of  liberty  during  the 
last  forty  years,  but,  on  the  whole,  more  by  custom 
than  by  legislation.  Placed  on  its  proper  civil  basis 
before  the  advent  of  the  Republic,  it  had  to  wait  until 
1907  for  a  few  of  the  restrictions  surrounding  the  cele- 
bration of  the  ceremony  to  be  rendered  less  irksome. 
The  law,  as  it  stands,  allows  two  young  people  to  marry 
at  twenty-one  without  the  consent  of  their  parents,  on 
condition  of  their  declaring  their  intention  through  a 
public  notary.  This  condition  must  be  observed  by 
those  under  thirty  years  of  age,  whenever  there  is 
parental  opposition ;  and  a  delay  of  thirty  days  is 
required  after  the  notice  is  given.  A  month's  residence 
in  the  commune  where  the  marriage  takes  place  is 
necessary  for  one  of  the  parties,  and  a  single  publication 
of  the  intended  marriage  ten  days  before  the  ceremony, 
in  each  of  the   communes   inhabited  by   the   parties. 


CONCLUSION  377 

when  the  place  of  residence  is  not  common  to  them 
both. 

If  these  formalities  were  all,  the  new  law  would  be 
a  great  improvement ;  but  bride  and  bridegroom  have 
further  to  produce  family  papers  and  certificates,  some- 
times difficult  to  obtain,  and  always  more  or  less 
troublesome.  Although  not  the  only  cause,  such 
paperasserie  has  been  one  of  the  causes  of  the  in- 
creasing number  of  unions  libres  not  only  among  the 
working-class,  over  whom  Mrs.  Grundy  has  little 
influence,  but  also  in  higher  ranks  of  the  nation. 
Quite  recently  this  came  out  in  an  open  court  inquiry 
held  by  the  Matin  newspaper,  when  a  wide  feeling  was 
revealed  in  favour  of  such  contracts  freed  from  State 
control.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  many  of  the  unions 
continue  throughout  the  life  of  the  two  parties,  and  are 
marriages  in  every  respect  save  the  ceremony,  those 
who  contract  them  assuming  the  title  of  husband  and 
wife  under  one  family  name.  There  is  besides  a  ten- 
dency in  certain  circles  to  treat  them  as  real  marriages, 
which  indeed  is  better,  when  they  are  founded  in 
mutual  affection  and  fidelity,  than  to  have,  as  is  some- 
times the  case,  a  society  acceptance  of  Monsieur  X  and 
Madame  Y,  whose  illicit  and  culpable  relations  are 
well  known,  and  whom  the  hostess  therefore  places 
side  by  side  at  dinner  in  delicate  recognition  of  the 
circumstances. 

However,  experience  proves  that  the  union  libre  has 
defects  as  grave  as  those  of  the  old  ecclesiastic  mar- 
riage which  Milton  found  so  unsatisfactory.  In  an 
organized  society,  it  can  scarcely  be  more  than  a  pis 
aller.  Probably  it  will  descend  to  a  minimum  again  in 
France  when  legislation  makes  the  contracting  of  mar- 


378     THE   THIRD   FRENCH   REPUBLIC 

riage  as  simple  an  affair  as  it  is  in  England  and  its 
dissolution  a  thing  honourable  and  advantageous  to 
both  parties,  if  they  are  unable  to  carry  on  the  part- 
nership. 


# 
#      # 


Of  the  Feminist  or  Woman's  Rights  movement 
what  can  be  said  is  that  it  is  practically  as  advanced  as 
on  the  other  side  of  the  Channel,  albeit  the  question 
of  female  suffrage  has  not  yet  been  actively  agitated. 
Women  barristers,  women  doctors,  women  university 
professors,  women  journalists  are  creations  of  the  Third 
Republic,  and  join  the  band  of  business  women  who 
have  long  existed  in  France  and  demonstrated  their 
ability  to  replace  their  husbands  or  brothers  at  the 
head  of  important  manufacturing  or  business  concerns. 
At  present  there  are  women  Jehus  who  handle  the 
ribbons  skilfully  and,  acting  as  cabbies,  conduct  their 
'  fare '  along  the  boulevards,  not  to  dwell  upon  a  whole 
standing  or  sitting  army  of  midinettes  that  earn  their 
living  in  offices  or  shops.  At  the  last  municipal  elec- 
tions, there  was  a  woman  candidate  who  secured  a  fair 
measure  of  support  in  votes,  which  the  returning  officer 
was  compelled  to  throw  into  the  waste-paper  basket, 
since  women  town  councillors  and  women  members 
of  Parliament  are  conquering  heroes — of  the  future. 
When  the  remaining  disabilities  of  the  fair  sex  shall 
have  been  swept  away,  perhaps  there  will  be  a  Feminist 
movement  in  favour  of  woman  conscription,  which,  if 
it  should  happen,  would  permit  of  grand  military 
manoeuvres  much  more  interesting  than  at  present, 
since  the  country's  army  of  male  defenders  might  be 
tested  by  another  army  of  Amazons  with  its  brilliant 


CONCLUSION  379 

staff  of  women  officers,  and,  from  a  fighting  point  of 
view,  the  problem  of  sex  superiority  be  settled. 

Meanwhile  the  new  race  of  French  women  is  rising. 
The  ancient  convent  system  of  education,  with  its 
claustration  of  the  jeune  fille  until  her  marriage,  is 
slowly  but  surely  decaying.  In  another  generation  or 
two  it  will  have  disappeared.  The  freer  atmosphere  in 
which  French  girls  are  now  being  brought  up  is  one  of 
the  changed  elements  in  social  life  which  will  most 
affect  the  nation's  destiny. 


INDEX 


Abadie,  250 

Abomey,  142 

About  (Ed.),  80,  235 

Academie  Francaise,  252,  254,  373, 

374 
Academy,  Goncourt,  171 
Actors  and  actresses  since  1900,  292 
Adam  (Madame),  286 
Adam  (Paul),  256,  269,  287 
Aix  (Archbishop  of),  137 
Albertville  (speech  of),  56 
Alencon  (Duchess  of),  172 
Alexander  III,  159 
Alexandria  (bombardment  of),  95 
Alfonso  XIII,  216    . 
Algeciras,  215,  221 
Alix  (Jules),  34 
Allemanists,  14 
Alliance  (Franco-Russian),  136,  151, 

362 
Alliance  (Triple),  40,  112 
Alsace-Lorraine,  47,  134,   136,  215, 

363 
Alvarez,  276 
Ambigu,  238 
Ambohimarina,  163 
Amboto,  163 

Amnesty  Bill,  78,  90,  209 
Ampere,  238 
Anarchists,  140,  153,  158 
Andre  (General),  199,  200,  206,  207, 

213,  214 
Annam,  98,  99,  100,  149 
Annecv,  58 

Anti-Semitism,  160,  184,  196 
Arago,  51 
Arbitration,  210 
Arenberg  (Monsieur  d'),  151 
Arene  (Em.),  235 
Armand-Barbes,  23 
Armstrong,  135 


Army  Reform,  200 

Arnim  (Count),  65 

Arnold  (Arthur),  33 

Arrondissements,  359 

Arsonval  (Arsene  d'),  293 

Arthur  (Port),  165,  183 

Arton,  146,  167 

Assi,  37 

Assistance  Publique,  323 

Assumptionists,  201 

Atchinoff,  125 

Attempt  of  October  31st,  25 

Aube  (sculptor),  120 

Aubertin,  117 

Audran,  261 

Audiffret-Pasquier,  52,  53,  169,  218 

Augier,  231,  232,  233,  246,  260.  282 

Aumale  (Due  d'),  50,  54,  58,  62,  65, 

97,  106,  107,  173 
Aurevilly  (Barbey  d'),  231 
Auteuil  Races  incident,  191 
Avelane  (Admiral),  151 
Aviators,  293 
Avron,  77 

Babyck,  34 

Baccalaure'at,  338,  339 

Baffler,  266 

Baghirmi,  189 

Bagneux,  152 

Bahr-el-Gazal,  189 

Ba'ihaut  (Monsieur),  145,  146 

Ballard,  268 

Ballottages,  352 

Ballu,  250 

Bal  des  Quatre-z-Arts,  308 

Balny  d'Avricourt,  99 

Balzac,  14,  40,  249,  282 

Bangkok,  150,  173 

Bankrupts'  rehabilitation,  202 

Banville  (Theodore  de),  227 


38i 


382 


INDEX 


Barbizon  school,  242 

Barbusse,  289,  290 

Bardo  Treaty,  92 

Baretta  (Blanche),  261 

Bargy  (Le),  276 

Barine  (Arvede),  274,  286 

Barodet  (Monsieur),  59 

Baron,  the  actor,  261 

Barres  (Maurice),  270 

Barrias,  249,  250,  282,  298 

Barry,  285 

Bartholdi,  248,  249,  298 

Bartholomew  283,  298 

Barye,  247,  282 

Bastille,  23,  36,  303 

Bataille,  290,  292 

Bathie,  53 

Battles  of  the  '70  war,  21,  23,  27,  24:5 

Baudelaire,  223 

Baudin,  34 

Baudry  (Paul),  244 

Bayol  (Monsieur),  132 

Bazaine  (Marshal),  23,  65 

Bazin  (Rene),  287 

Beaumarchais,  275 

Beaurepaire  (Quesnay  de),  127,  185 

Becque  (Henry),  260 

Becquerel  (Henri),  277 

Behagle  (de),  196 

Behanzin,  142 

Belcastel,  51 

Belfort,  61 

Belot  (Adolphe),  235 

Benedictines,  201 

Beraud,  296 

Be'renger,  149,  202 

Bergeret,  36 

Berges,  239 

Bergson,  294 

Berlin,  21,  28,  77,  133,  134 

Bernard  (Claude),  239,  240 

Bernhardt    (Sarah),   227,    238,    245, 

260,  261 
Bernis,  177 
Bernstamm,  298 
Bernstein,  2!)  I 
Bert  (Paul),  90,  240 
Bertall,  236,  267 
Berteaux  (Monsieur),  214 
Berthelot  (Monsieur),  166,  168,  22(1, 

239,  240 
Bertraud,  239 
Beslay,  34 


Besnard,  265,  295 

Beuville,  48 

Bey  of  Tunis,  208 

Bichat,  238 

Billiorav,  34 

Billot  (General),  174,  176,  183,  207 

Bills  in  Parliament,  355,  356 

Bishops'  Petition,  48 

Bismarck,  44,  46,  47,  48,  56,  61,  65, 

71,  77,  108,  112 
Bizerta,  217 
Bizet,  237 
Black  flags,  99 
Blanc  (Louis),  29,  84,  90 
Blanche (Jacques)  297 
Blanqui,  24 
Blanquists,  203 
Blondin  (Monsieur),  145 
Bhhvitz  (de),  77,  78 
Boccador,  250 
Boers,  197,  199 
Boileau,  258 
Boisdeffre   (General    de),    176,    178, 

181 
Bonheur  (Rosa),  243,  246,  373 
Bonnat,  245 

Bonnechose  (Cardinal  de),  55 
Bonnier  (Colonel),  154 
Bonnier  (scientist),  294 
Bordeaux,  28,  56 
Bordereau,  178 
Bossuet,  259,  302 
Botha  (General),  208 
Bouguereau,  246 
Boulanger  (General),  106, 107  et  seq., 

132,  136,  148 
Bourbaki  (General),  83 
Bourdais,  250 
Bourdelle,  299 
Bourget  (Paul),  254,  255,  259,  269, 

270,  287 
Bourgeois  (Leon),  130,  131,  166,  167, 

108 
Bourgeoisie,  312 
Bourse,  128 

Bourse  du  Commerce,  268,  305 
Bourse  de  Travail,  139,  148,  305 
Boussinesq,  262,  263 
Boutmy,  2,^8 
Boutry,  233 
Boxer  Rebellion,  199 
Bra,  278 
Bracquemond,  247,  282 


INDEX 


383 


Brassey  (Lord),  210 

Bread,  dear,  174 

Bre'al  (Monsieur),  105 

Brebant,  25 

Breton  (Jules),  245 

Briere  de  FIsle  (General),  100,  101 

Brieux,  275,  291 

British  Association,  262 

Broca  (Paul),  240 

Broglie  (Due  de),  53,  57,  05,  66,  70, 

80,  99,  235,  274 
Brugere  (General),  200 
Bruneau,  276 

Brunetiere,  259,  260,  269,  275 
Brussels,  46,  127,  223 
Budget  deficit,  202 
Buffet  (Monsieur),  53,  59,  75,  77, 195, 

196,  235 
Biilow  (Von),  178 
Buloz,  235 

Burdeau,  143,  154,  159 
Bussy  (Simon),  296 

Cabanel,  244 

Cafe  d'Harcourt 

Cafe  de  la  Paix 

( lafes,  306,  307 

Caffarel  (General),  113 

Cagliari,  189 

Cain  (Auguste),  282 

Calve  (Madame),  261 

Cambodia,  149 

Camp  (Maxime  du),  228,  258 

( '/mean,  307 

Cannes,  168 

Canrobert  (Marshal),  162 

Canton,  359 

Capus,  275 

Caran  d'Ache,  267 

Carles,  299 

Carmaux,  166 

Carmelites,  201 

Carnival,  309 

Carnot,  Lazare,  116,  156 

Carnot,  Hippolyte,  116 

Carnot,  Sadi,  21,  116  et  seq.,  142, 156, 

185 
Caron  (Rose),  276 
Carpeaux,  247,  248 
Carrier-Belleuse,  248 
Carriere  (Eugene),  281 
Carries,  266 
Carthusians,  208 


Carvalho  (Madame),  238 

Caserio,  156,  158 

Casimir  Pe'rier,  53, 148, 150, 152, 154, 

157  et  seq.,  167 
Cassation  (Court  of),  220 
Cassatt  (Mary),  282 
Castelin  (Monsieur),  139 
Castillon  (de),  237 
Cavaignac,  142,  151,  176,  180,  181, 

182,  184 
Cave'  (Monsieur),  324 
Caze  (Monsieur),  321 
Caznove  de  Pradines,  52 
Centenary  fetes  of  '92,  142 
Central  Committee,  30,  32 
Chabrier,  276 
Chabrol  (Fort),  196 
Cballemel-Lacour,  52,  188,  234 
Chamber  of  Commerce,  306 
Cbambiges,  250 
Chambord  fComte  de),  41,  44,  54,  58, 

64,  66,  67,  70,  73,  105 
Chambrun  (Comte  de),  166 
Changaruier  (General),  53,  66 
Chanoine  (General),  181 
Cbanoine  (Captain),  196 
Cbantillv  chateau,  107 
Chapu,  248,  249 
Charcot,  241,  242, 
Charcot,  Jean,  210 
Charles  X,  41 
(  harpentier,  299 
Chartres  (Due  de),  106 
Chatelier,  262 
Chauchard  (Monsieur),  243 
Chausson  (Ernest),  261 
Chauvin  (Mile.),  184 
Chavannes  (Puvis  de),  244,  245,  265, 

266,  281 
Chennevieres,  263 
Cherbuliez,  234,  252,  253 
Che'ret  (Jules),  266,  267,  282 
Chesnelong  (Monsieur),  69 
Chevalier,  242 
Chevreul,  129,  238,  261,  298 
Chevrillon,  288 
Cheysson  (Monsieur),  321,  325 
China,  100,  101,  165,  196 
Christiani  (Baron),  191 
Chulalongkorn,  173 
Church  and  State  struggle,  141,  200, 

363,  364  et  seq. 
Cissey  (General),  73 


384 


INDEX 


Claire  River,  101 
Claretie  (Jules),  228,  253 
Cle'menceau,  78,  91,  95,  101,  110, 

133,  146,  151,  169,  190,  204,  220, 

221,  265 
Cluseret,  35,  37 
Cobden,  374 

Cochin-China,  20,  98,  99 
Colbert,  16 
Collectivism,  368 
Colonial  expansion,  154,  372 
Combes  (Emile),  206,  208,  211,  214 
Comedie    Francaise,   25,    133,    162, 

228,  232,  238 
Commercial  treaties,  376 
—schools,  340,  341,  347 
Committee  of  Public  Safety,  35 
Commune,  24  et  seq.,  46,   78,   225, 

229 
Communes,  359,  360 
Comte  (Auguste),  14,  298 
Concordat,  200,  209,  211 
Congo,  102,  155,  208 
Conscription  Bill,  55 
Conseil  d'Etat,  358 
Conseil  Municipal,  304,  316 
Conseils  Generaux,  49,  353 
Conseils  d'Arrondissement,  353 
Constans  (minister),  125,    127,  130, 

131, 139 
Constant  (Benjamin),  246,  281 
Constantin  (Grand  Duke),  167 
Constitution  of  1875  ;  72,  75,  118 
—  Commission,  57 
Consulat,  350 
Coppee  (Francois),  184, 227,  269,  275, 

289 
Coquelin  Brothers,  90,  162,  238 
Corneille,  302 
Corot,  242 
Coste,  241 
Cottet,  297 
Cottu,  145,  146 
Coulisses  of  Boulangism,  132 
Coup  d'Etat,  14,  20 
Courbet  (Admiral),  100,  101 
Courbet  (Gustave),  242,  243 
Cour  des  Comptes,  36,  303 
Courts  martial,  38 
Cousin  (Victor),  223 
Cremieux  (Gaston),  37 
Creusot  arbitration,  197 
Crimea,  20,  62 


Crispi,  112 

Croizette  (Madame),  238 

Cronstadt,  136,  151 

Cros,  299 

Cuba,  175 

Cultual  Associations,  221 

Curie  (Monsieur  et   Madame),    276, 

277 
Cuvier,  13 
Czar,  77,  109,  170 

Dahomey,  132,  189 

Dalou,  248,  249,  279 

Dampierre  (Marquis  de),  56 

Dampierre  (Major),  152 

Dampt,  249 

Dauton,  282 

Darboux,  239 

Darboy  (Archbishop),  36,  248 

Darfur,  189 

Darwin,  241 

Daubigny,  242,  243 

Daudet    (Alphonse),    28,   230,    231, 

252,  289,  298,  312 
Daudet  (Ernest),  274 
Daudet  (Leon),  270,  271 
Daumier,  247,  303 
Da  Vinci,  263 
Davioud,  250 
Debray,  240 
Debussy,  261 
Decamps,  242 
Decazes  (Due  de),  71 
Decentralization,  16 
Decheance  (La),  20 
Decorations,  311 
Degas,  281 

Degrees  (University),  344,  345,  346 
Deherme  (Georges),  336 
Delacroix,  242,  248 
Delagrange,  293 
Delahaye  (Monsieur),  144 
Delarey,  208 
Delaroche,  242 
Delaunay  (actor),  238 
Delaunay  (astronomer),  239 
Delcasse,  143,  154,  197,  202,  215 
Delescluze,  33,  34,  35,  37 
Delibes  (Leo),  237,  261 
Delmas,  276 

Delpech  (Monsieur),  139 
Delpit  (Albert),  256 
Demange  (Maitre),  195 


INDEX 


385 


Denfert-Rochereau,  128 

Denis  (Maurice),  280 

Denmark,  170,  205 

Departments,  359 

Deperet,  294 

Deperthes,  250 

Depopulation,  370,  371 

Deputies,  353,  354 

Deroulede  (Paul),  110,  114,  125,  126, 

134,  147,  184,  188,  189,  195,  196, 

210,  228,  275 
Desbois  (Jules),  266,  298,  299 
Deschanips  (Gaston),  290 
Deschanel  (Paul),  174,  179, 187,  205, 

212 
Deschanel  (Emile),  274 
Descle'e  (Aime'e),  238 
Deslandres,  278 
Detaille   (Edouard),   134,   244,   245, 

265,  295 
Detwiller,  165 
Deves  (Monsieur),  145 
Deville  (Sainte-Claire),  240,  261 
Dewar,  277 
Dewet,  208 
Diable  (He  du),  34,  174,  179,  184, 

193 
Diaz,  242 
Dickens,  312 
Diemer,  261 

Dillon  (Count),  120,  129 
Dimbourg  (Madame),  166 
Dinet,  296 

Disarmament,  183,  189 
Disestablishment,  211,  217 
Disraeli,  77 

Dissolution  of  Parliament  in  1876,  80 
Divine  Comedy,  263 
Dodds  (General),  142 
Dogger  Bank  incident,  214 
Dominie  (Colonel),  101 
Donnay  (Maurice),  275,  291 
Don  Quixote  263 
Dore  (Gustave),  248,  263,  264 
Dossier  (secret),  182 
Doucet  (Camille),  55 
Doumer  (Paul),  168,  203,  214,  220 
Doumic  (Rene),  288 
Doyen  (Doctor),  294 
Dreux-Breze'  (Marquis  de),  69 
Dreyfus  (Captain),  34,  127,  160, 161, 

163,   171    et  seq.,    200,   212,    220, 

296,  314 


Dreyfus  (Madame),  171,  182 

Dreyfus  (Mathieu),  174 

Drumont  (Ed.),  180,  184,  203,  259 

Dual  Alliance,  215 

Du  Barail,  83 

Dubois  (Paul),  247,  248 

Dubufe,  246 

Duchesne  (Colonel),  101,  163 

Duclaux,  278 

Duclaux  (Mary),  288 

Duclerc,  96,  97 

Ducret  (Editor),  248 

Ducrot  (General),  26,  54 

Duez,  246 

Dufau  (Mademoiselle),  295 

Dufaure,  51,  52,  53,  78,  81 

Dumas  (the  elder),  14,  223 

Dumas  (the  younger),  231,  232,  233, 

238,  243,  260,  298 
Dumas  (J.  B.),  240,  261 
Dupanloup  (Monsiguor),  51,  52,  54, 

55,  331 
Dupre  (artist),  242 
Dupre'  (Admiral),  98 
Dupuis  (Monsieur),  98,  99 
Dupuy  (Minister),  150,  151,  153,  154, 

161,  181,  187,  192 
Dupuy  de  Lome,  239 
Duran  (Carolus),  246,  279,  295 
Durand,  37 

Duruv  (Victor),  158,  229,  339 
Duruy  (George),  190,  191,  363 
Duval,  31 

Ecole  des  Beaux-Arts,  134,  225 

—  de  Droit,  345 

—  de  Medecine,  302,  345 

—  des  Sciences  politiques,  233 

—  Normale  Superieure,  345 

—  Polytechnique,  116,  191 

Ecoles  Primaires  Supe'rieures  Profes- 

sionnelles,  334,  335 
Ecoles  Spe'ciales,  337 
Edison,  241 
Education,  330  et  seq. 
Educational  League,  331 
Educational  Societies,  335 
Edward  VII,  209,  216,  218 
Egypt,  95,  155,  159,  164,  212 
Egyptian  Debt  Commission,  168 
Eiffel  (Monsieur),  145,  146 
Eiffel  Tower,  128,  170,  267 
Eight  Hours'  Work  in  Mines,  203 


386 


INDEX 


Elections  of  1876,  78 

—  of  1877,  81 

—  for  the  Senate  in  1879,  83 

—  of  1881,  94 

—  of  1885,  103 

—  of  1889,  129,  130 

—  of  1893,  151 

—  of  1898,  179 

—  of  1902,  203,  204 

—  of  1906,  220 
Election  methods,  352 
Elementary  Education,  332 
Elementary  Schools  of  Higher  Grade, 

333,  334 
Eliot  (George;,  270 
Emerson,  284 
England,  56, 132,  154,  168,  170,  210, 

212 
English  introductions  into  Paris,  317 
Ennery  (Adolphe  d'),  235 
Entente  Cordiale,  210 
Erlanger  (Camille),  292 
Ernoul,  52,  64 
Esterhazy,  174,  175,  178,  180,  181, 

182,  185,  192 
Etats  Ge'ne'raux,  352 
Etienne  (Monsieur),  143 
Eudes,  34,  36,  122 
Eugenie  (Empress),  19,  136,  373 
Exhibition  of  1889,  128,  129,  130 
Exhibition  of  1900,  170,  197,  198 
Exhibition  strikes,  122 

Fabre  (Ferdinand),  141,  231,  252 

Fabre  (Joseph),  259 

Faguet  (Emile),  259,  260,  288 

Falguiere,  248,  282 

Fallieres,  89,   96,  131,   137,  219  et 

seq. 
Falloux  (de),  16,  43,  330,  332 
Familistere  de  Guise,  368,  369 
Fantin-Latour,  281 
Farfadet,  217 
Farman,  293 
Fashions,  316,  317 
Fashoda,  183 
Faure  (Felix),  162  et  seq.,  185,  186, 

206 
Faure  (Felix),  (Mme.),  167 
Faure  (Sebastien),  158 
Faure'  (Gabriel),  276 
Favre  (Jules),  21,  22,  25,  27,  44,  40. 

50,  51,  227,  228 


Feraudy,  261 

Ferri,  37 

Ferry  (Jules),  21,  31,  52,  84,  89,  90, 

92,  93,  95,  97,  100,  101,  102,  112, 

114,    116,    117,     148,    234,    332, 

339 
Fete  des  Fleurs,  308 
Fetes,  308 

Feuillet  (Octave),  256 
Feydeau,  275 
Figaro,  190,  191,  213,  234 
Figuier,  263 
Flahaut,  294 
Flameng,  246,  296 
Flaubert,  223,  224 
Fleury  (Tony-Robert),  246,  295 
Floquet,  116,  120,  121,  123, 124, 143, 

144,  148 
Floureus  (Communist),  33 
Flourens  (Minister),  109,  112 
Fontane  (Monsieur),  145,  146 
Fontanes,  13 
Forain,  297 
Formosa,  100,  101 
Fouille'e,  242 
Fourmies,  135 
Founder  (Admiral),  189 
Fourtou,  73 
Foyot  (restaurant),  153 
Francais  (painter),  242 
France  (Anatole),  190,  253,  254,  269, 

275,  286,  296 
France  (College  de),  262,  302 
Franck  (Cesar),  237,  261 
Franco-German  Compromise,  216 
Franco-Italian  Fetes,  189 
Frankfort,  46,  61 
Free  Labour  Offices,  203 
Freemasonry,  84,  213 
Fre'miet,  248,  283 
Freycinet  (de),  89,  91,  92,  95,  104, 

107,  108,  116,  125,  131,  135,  139, 

191,  207,  234 
Fromentin,  242,  243,  244 
Fustel  de  Coulanges,  225 

Gabes,  93 

Gabriel,  50 

Gail  (de),  214 

Gallic  cock  story,  165 

Galliera  Mansion,  105 

Gallie'ni  (General),  169 

(lallifet  (Marquis  de),  193,  199,  207 


INDEX 


387 


Gambetta,  21,  23,  34,  39,  42,  45,  51, 
52,  56,  57,  66,  68,  72,  82,  83,  84, 
88,  89,  90,  91,  94,  96,  116,  121, 
162,  234,  236,  240,  331 

Gambia,  132,  212 

Gambon,  34 

Gamelle  (Prince),  131 

Ganderax,  275 

Gamier  (arcbitect),  250 

Gamier,  Francis,  98,  99 

Garnier-Pages,  52 

Gamier,  Philippe,  260 

Gaudin,  240 

Gautier  (Theophile),  37,  248,  257 

Gavarni,  247,  303 

Genoa  (Duke  of),  200 

Gentil,  196 

Geoffroy  (Gustave),  288 

Gerault-Richard,  158,  177 

Gerber,  241 

Germany,  40,  46,  49 

German  atomic  theory,  240 

German  Emperor,  136,  199 

Gervex,  281 

Ghil  (Rene),  289,  291 

Gill  (Andre'),  236,  247 

Girardin  (Emile  de),  20,  136 

Girls'  schools,  339 

Gladstone,  168 

Glegle  (King),  132 

Goblet,  89,  104,  107,  108,  110,  120 

Gobron  (Monsieur),  145 

Godard  (Benjamin),  276 

Godin  (Monsieur),  368,  369 

Goethe,  312 

Gohier  (Urbain),  184 

Goncourt  (Edmond  and  Jules),  171, 
226,  230,  231,  252 

Gondinet,  231,  233 

Gonse  (General),  176 

Got  (actor),  238 

Gounod,  236,  261,  312 

Gouthe-Soulard  (Archbishop),  138, 
219 

Gragnon  (Monsieur),  113 

Gramme,  239 

Grand-Carteret,  274 

Grandjean  (Madame),  276 

Grand  Orient,  213 

Granier  (Madame),  276 

Grave  (Jean),  158 

Great  Britain,  95,  112,  168, 173, 197, 
209,  212,  216 


Gregh  (Fernand),  289,  290 

Grenier  (Doctor),  171 

Grenoble  speech,  56 

Gre'ville  (Madame),  286 

GreVin,  236 

Grevy  (Jules),  21,  50,  51,  78,  87  et 

seq.,  103,  114,  115,  136,  142 
Gre'vy  (Albert),  145 
Grey  (Sir  Edward),  164 
Grousset  (Pascal),  37 
Gue'rin  (Charles),  291 
Gue'rin  (Jules),  195,  196 
Guesde  (Jules),  151,  179,  369 
Guignard,  278 

Guillaume  (sculptor),  247,  248 
Guillaume  (painter),  297 
Guilmant,  276 
Guinea  (French),  163 
Guinot,  167 
Guiraud,  237 
Guise  (Due  de),  58 
Guizot,  13 

Guyot  de  Villeneuve,  213 
Gymnase,  232,  238 
Gyp,  286 

Habert  (Marcel),  188,  189,  195,  196 

Hading  (Jane),  276 

Hague,  189,  210 

Halanzy,  237 

Haldane,  367 

Hale'vy,  227,  228,  231,  233 

Halle  au  Ble,  268 

Hanoi,  98,  99 

Hanotaux,  51,   154,   155,   164,   166. 

169,  173,  274,  288 
Hardy  (Thomas),  284,  297 
Harpignies,  244 
Hart  (Sir  Robert),  101 
Haussmann,  250,  301 
Haute  Cour,  126,  127,  129,  193,  195, 

357 
Hebrides  (New),  112 
Hegel,  225 

He'go  (Monsieur),  203 
Heine,  312 
Henner,  246 
Henri  IV,  67 
Henri  V,  69 

Henri  (Prince  d'Orle'ans),  174 
Henry  (Colonel),  178,  179,  180,  181, 

182 
Henry  (Emile),  153,  156 


388 


INDEX 


Herbette  (Monsieur),  109 

Heredia,  257,  289 

Hermant,  275 

Hermite,  239 

He'rold,  289,  290 

Hertz  (Cornelius),  145 

Herve  (Edouard),  235 

Hervieu  (Paul),  271,  275,  291 

Hispano-American  War,  175,  183 

Hotel  de  Yille,  25,  36,  250 

Hotel  de  Rambouillet,  285 

Hotel  Terminus,  153 

Houssaye,  274 

Hovas,  163,  169 

Hue,  100,  149, 

Hugo  (Victor),   13,  14,  23,  39,  90, 

102,  203,  223,  232,  246,  257,  258, 

266,  272,  298 
Humann  (Admiral),  150 
Humbert  scandal,  204,  205,  209 
Huysmans,  246,  255,  256,  270 

Ibsen,  284,  312 

Imerina,  164 

Imperial  (Prince),  91 

Impressionism,  294 

Income  Tax,  107,  166,  168,  222 

Indy  (Vincent  d'),  261 

Ingres,  242 

Injalbert,  249,  298 

Interpellations,  357 

Intimists,  397 

Intransigeant,  92.  106,  122 

Italy,  40,  48,  49,  76,  93,  200,  209,  210 

Italy  (King  of),  174,  189 

Ivory  Coast,  142 

Jacobs,  285 

Jacques  I,  211 

Jamais  (Monsieur),  143 

Jammes  (Francis),  291 

Jamont  (General),  200 

Janet,  263 

Janin  (Jules),  55 

Janssen,  239 

Japan,  165,  216 

Jaures,  151,  158,  166,  168,  174.  176, 

179,  203,  215,  368,  369 
Jean-Goujon  Charity  Bazaar  fire,  172 
Jesuits,  90,  92,  141,  201,  252,  330 
Joffrin  (Monsieur),  112 
Joinville  (Prince  de),  50 
Jordaens,  296 


Jourde,  37 
Journaux,  234,  235 
Jouve  (Colonel),  28 
Julien  (Saint)  speech,  56 

Kahn  (Gustave),  271,  273 
Kairwan,  93 

Kanem,  189 

Kant,  242 

Keller  (Louis),  322 

Khone  Island,  150 

Kiel  Canal,  165 

Kipling-  (Rudyard),  284,  288 

Klobb  "(Lieut. -Col.),  196 

Kossuth,  24 

Kruger  (Mr.),  199 

Labiche,  231,  232 

Labori,  194 

Lachelier,  242 

Lafargue  (Paul),  235 

Laguerre,  126 

Lalo,  237 

Lamarck,  238 

Lamartine,  13,  22,  223.  248,  257 

Lamy  (Major),  199 

Lange'nieux  (Cardinal),  137 

Langlois  (Colonel),  51 

Language  (French),  372,  373,  374 

Lang-Son,  101 

Lanson,  274,  289 

Laos,  212 

Lapparent,  294 

Lara  (Isidore  de),  292 

Larcy  (de),  43,  53 

Laroche  (Governor),  169 

I.arousse,  233 

Larroumet,  274 

Lasteyrie,  51 

Latin  theme  story,  104 

Lauge,  268 

Laur  (Monsieur),  139 

Laurens  (Jean-Paul),  244.  281,  295 

Laurier  (Sir  Wilfrid),  208 

Lavedan,  275,  291 

Lavio-erie  (Cardinal),  132.  137 

Lavisse  (Ernest),  259,  275,  288 

Lavoisier,  238 

Law  on  abandoned  children,  129 

espionage,  1 63 

marriage,  166 

plural  candidatures.  129 

Lazare  (Bernard),  171 


INDEX 


389 


Lebaudy  (Jacques),  210 

Lebesque,  294 

Le  Bon  (Gustave),  21)4 

Lebrun-Renault  (Captain),  177 

Lecocq,  237 

Lecomte  (General),  31,  32 

Leconte  de  Lisle,  203,  257,  282 

Ledru-Rollin,  24 

Leeward  Islands,  112 

Lefebre  (Jules),  24G,  29G 

Lefevre  (Camille),  299 

Legion  of  Honour,  36 

Legitimists,  56,  234 

Legoux  (Baron),  169 

Legrand  (Louis),  297 

Lemaitre  (Frederic),  238 

Lemaitre  (Jules),  184,  206,  259,  275 

Lemire  (Abbe),  153,  166 

Le  My  re  de  Villiers,  150 

Lenoir,  299 

Lens  riots,  220 

Leo  XIII,  132,  144,  209 

Lepage  (Bastien),  245 

Lepere  (Auguste),  282 

Lepine  (Monsieur),  149 

Le  Play,  233,  242 

Leroux  (Xavier),  2!)2 

Leroy-Beaulieu,  134,  242,  259 

Le  Sidaner,  296 

Lesbos,  2i)2 

Lespes,  100,  101 

Lesseps  (de),  122,  145,  146, 159.  250, 

(Charles),  145,  146 

Lesueur  (Daniel),  286 
Lhermitte,  296 
Liberia,  163 
Libertaries,  203 
Liberty  (statue  of),  249 
Libre  Parole,  180,  184 
Liege  Exhibition,  022 
Li-Huug-Chang,  102 
Limouzin  (Madame),  113 
Linde,  278 
Lintilhac,  288 
Lippman,  262 
Lister  (Sir  J.),  241 
Littre,  51,  84,  233,  242 
Living  in  Paris,  315 
Loch  Nan  Valley,  101 
Lockroy,  134 
Loewy,  278 
Lohengrin,  136 
London,  71,  183,  209,  210 


Longchamps  Review,  46 

Lorgeril  (Monsieur),  51 

Lorrain  (Claude),  245,  266 

Loti  (Pierre),  254,  270,  287 

Loubet,  139,  140,  143,  144,  146,  187 

et  scq.,   191,  205,    209,  211,  216, 

218,  219 
Louis  XV,  50,  202 
Louis-Philippe,  39,  40,  41,  43,  67, 

152 
Lourties  (Monsieur),  321 
Louvois,  16 
Louys  (Pierre),  273 
i   Loysel,  299 
j   Loze  (Monsieur),  149 
Lucas,  268 
Lumiere,  278 
Luminais,  246,  268 
Lur  Saluces,  196 
Luxer  ^General  de),  175 
Lvcee,  Louis  le  Grand,  revolt,  96 
Lycees,  336,  337,  340 

—  programme,  337,  338 

—  for  girls,  339,  340 
Lyons,  33,  155 

Mabilleau  (Monsieur),  321,  322 

MacDonald  (Flora),  162 

Mace'  (Jean),  331 

Mackau  (Monsieur),  110 

MacKinley,  134 

MacMahon,  28,  37,  46,  61  et  seq.,  81, 

82,  151 
Madagascar,   97,  98,  132,  163,  169, 

197 
Madeleine  (the),  36,  153 
Magazines  (French),  236 
Magnan  (Marshal),  84 
Magnard  (Francis),  234 
Mahdi  (the),  168 
Majunga,  98 
Malherbe,  258 

Mallarme'  (Ste'phane),  257,  258,  271 
Malot  (Hector),  235,  256 
Mancel,  298 

Manet,  243,  246,  264,  297 
Mang-Ho,  98 
Manuel  (Eugene),  227 
Marbot  (General),  274 
Marcel,  289 
Marchal,  245 

Marchand,  175,  183,  198,  199 
Margueritte  (Paul  and  Victor),  287 


390 


INDEX 


Marguerite  (He  Sainte),  66 

Marie  Dorothee  of  Austria,  170 

Marni  (Madame),  286 

Marovoay,  163 

Marriage,  376,  377  et  seq. 

Marsanne,  187 

Marseillaise,  20,  39 

Marseilles,  33 

Martinique  eruption,  204 

Marx  (Roger),  289 

Martin    (Henri),    (historian),     229  ; 

painter,  281,  296 
Massenet,  237,  275,  292 
Masson,  288 
Mauclair,  289 
Maufra,  294 

Maupassant  (Guy  de),  255,  282 
Mauritius,  148 
May  16th  attempt,  80 
Mayor  of  Paris,  30 
Mazzini,  24 

Medallion  engravers,  267 
Meilhac,  231,  233 
Meissonier,  243,  279,  282 
Mekong  River,  98,  150 
Meline,  130,  134,  168,169,174.  177, 

187 
Mellinet  (General),  84 
Menam,  150 

Mendes  (Catulle),  257.  271 
Mercie,  249,  250,  282,  298 
Mercier    (General),    176,    183,    184, 

192,  194 
Merime'e  (Prosper),  19,  40,  223,  373 
Merrill  (Stuart),  272 
Messager,  276 
Metal  workers,  267 
Metric  system,  2fi2 
Metropolitan,  112,  315 
—  accident,  211 
Metz,  23,  65 

Metzinger  (General),  163 
Mexican  campaign,  20 
Mexico,  93 
Mezin,  219 
Michael  Angelo,  263 
Michel  (Louise),  97 
Michelet,  13 
Midiane,  163 
Mikael  (Ephraim),  271 
Military  service  of  three  years,  129 

two  years,  207 

Millerand,  143,  151,  193 


Millet,  242 
Millevoye,  147 
Milne-Edwards,  241 
Milton,  377 
Ministers,  359 
Miot  (Admiral),  98 
Miot  (Communist),  37 
Mir  (Monsieur),  139 
Mirbeau  (Octave),  15,  275 
Mistral,  289 
Mohammed  Said,  159 
Moissan,  277 

Monarchy  or  Republic,  49 
Monet  (Claude),  243,  264,  296 
Monte'gut,  233 
Montelimar,  187-8 
Monte'pin  (Xavier  de),  235 
Moutesquiou,  273 
Montmartre,  31,  36,  250 
Moreau  (Gustave),  276,  296 
Moret  (Henry),  204 
Morocco,  212,  215,  221 
Morot,  (Aime),  246,  296 
Moore  (George),  288 
Moscow,  136 
Mounet  (Paul),  276 
Mounet  Sully,  90,  238 
Mulilfeld,  287 
Mun  (Comte  de),  137,  201 
Mun  (Comtesse  de),  206 
Mundella,  95 
Municipal  Council,  90,  219 

—  organization,  7'.' 
Munster  (Count),  133 
Muntz,  288 

Murat  (Prince),  84 

Musee  (Social),  166 

Music  (National  Societv  of),  237 

Mu^et  (Alfred  de),  13',  298 

Mutual  Help  Organizations,  217 

Mutualism,  318  et  seq. 

Mutualite  Familiale,  325 

—  Maternelle,  324 

—  Scolaire,  324 

—  Hygeinique,  328,  329 

Nancy,  64 

Xapo'leon  I,  13,  19,  29,  58,  202,  350, 

358 
Napoleon  III,  14,  20,  29,  39,  54,  93, 

136,  159,  250 
Napoleon  (JJrome),  bo,  97,  132,  13(5, 

137 


INDEX 


391 


Napoleon  (Victor),  113,  137 

Napoleonic  code,  318 

Naquet  (Monsieur),  358 

Narbonne,  33 

National  Assembly,  28,  31,  32,   34, 

35,  43,  44,  46,  50,  53,  5G,  61,  67, 

70,  88,  116,  331 

—  Committee  of  Protest,  119 

—  Defence  Government,  30,  41,  44, 
92, 116 

—  Guard,  32 

—  Halfpenny  Movement,  331 
Nationalism,  180,  184,  213 
National  Savings  Banks,  319 
Nau  (Jean-Antoine),  287 
Ne'grier  (General  de),  100,  101 
Neuilly  (Foire  de),  309 
Neuville  (Alphonse  de),  244 
Newfoundland,  212 
Newton,  241 

New  York,  249 

Nicbolas  II,  160 

Nicholas  (Prince),  167 

Niger,  163 

Nile,  155,  164,  183 

Nobility,  310,  311 

Nona,  216      ' 

Norton,  147 

Notables,  350 

Notre  Dame  de  l'Usine,  141 

Nugent,  149 

Obock,  126 

Odeon,  238 

Oeillets  Blancs,  192 

Offenbach,  237 

Ohnet  (Georges),  256,  260 

Old  Age  Pensions,  14,  155,  202,  321, 

:524 
Ollivier  (Pere),  172 
<  )om  Paul,  198 
Opportunist  Group.  2:>4 
Opera,  20,  25,  64,  216,  250 
Opera  Comique  burnt,  111 
Orleans  (Due  d'),  41,  131,  169 
Orleans  Family,  58,  132 
Orphanages,  14 

Pailleron,  231,  233,  298 

Palais  de  Justice,  303 

Panama,  15,  122,  123,  128,  143,  146, 

147,  159,  167,  192 
Pantheon,  142,  156,  241 


Pantheon  of  Agrippa,  137 
Papal  Interference,  172 

—  Nuncio,  79 
dismissed,  211 

Paris,  29,  33,   37,  39,  49,  127,  135, 
142,  170,  171,  173,  183,  300  et  »eq. 

—  population,  309 

—  (Treaty  of),  183 

Paris  (Comte  de),  41,  44,  66,  67,  70, 

105,  112,  120,  131,  158 
Paris  (sculptor),  282 
Parliamentary  System,  850  et  seq. 
Parnassians,  289 
Parnassian  verse,  271,  -72 
Parties  (division  of),  50 
Pasquier,  69 

Pasteur,  167,  239,  240,  241,  248 
Patrie  Francaise,  184,  203,  214,  218 
Patriots'  League,  125,  126,  134,  184, 

188,  218 
Paty  de  Clam  (du),  176,  181,  192 
Paulus,  120 
Pawels,  153 

Pays  (Mademoiselle),  180 
Pekin,  100 
Pelletan   (Camille),    166,    174,    206, 

208 
Pellieux  (General  de),  175,  176,  178, 

192 
Palace  of  Penitence,  49 
Pension  Fund  (National),  140 
Penny  Postage,  217 
Pere  la  Chaise,  36 
Perrin,  237 
Peter  the  Great,  173 
Peter's  (Saint),  137 
Petersburg,  136,  202 
Peterhof  Palace,  173 
Petit  (Le),  236 
Philastre  (Monsieur),  99 
Philippines,  175 
Phu-Sa,  100 
Picard  (Emile),  292 
Picard  (Ernest),  25,  44,  51,  52 
Picard  (sculptor),  298 
Pichon  (Minister),  221 
Picquart   (General),    174,   175,   176, 

177,  178,  180,  182,  192,  200,  220, 

221 
Pierre  (Admiral),  98 
Pigalle,  248 
Pilgrims  in  Rome,  137 
Piou  (Monsieur),  151 


392 


INDEX 


Pissarro,  243,  264,  280 

Pissarro  (Lucien),  282 

Pius  IX,  59,  66 

Planquette,  237 

Planted  261 

Plon-Plon,  137 

Ploudaniel,  207 

Poincare,  202 

Poincare  (Henri),  278 

Pointillist  School,  280 

Ponchet,  263 

Ponson  du  Terrail,  235 

Pope  (the),  48,  59,  79,  137 

Pont  Alexandre  III,  170 

Porto-Riche,  275 

Portsmouth,  136 

Portugal,  218 

Post  (German),  76 

Pouyer-Quertier,  47 

Prado,  307 

Prefect  of  the  Seine,  360 

Prefects,  95,  360 

Prefecture  of  Police,  148 

Pressense  (de),  190,  269 

President  (the)  of  the  Republic,  351 

Prevost  (Marcel),  256,  275 

Pre'vost-Paradol,  223 

Prices  of  provisions,  316 

Prisons,  303 

Pro  jet  de  loi,  351,  355 

Pronunciation  (Paris).  314 

Propositions  de  loi,  351,  355 

Protectionism,    107,   131,   134,   168, 

374,  375 
Proust  (Antonin),  145 
Provincial  elements  in  Paris,  313 
Providence  Societies,  14 
Prussia,  40,  48 
Pugno  (Raoul),  276 
Puech,  282 
Puiseux,  239 
Pyat  (Felix),  24,  33,  34,  37 

Quatre-z-Arts  (Bal  des),  148 
Questeurs,  354 
Quirinal,  211 

Rabah,  1 

Rabaud,  292 

Rabelais,  71,  263 

Races,  308 

Radical-Socialist  Programme,  103 

Ranaelli,  2G5 


Rainilai'rivony,  163 

Rallie's,  130 

Rambaud,  288 

Ranavalo,  98,  163 

Raspail,  78 

Ravachol,  140,  156 

Ravaisson,  242 

Ravary  (Major),  175,  176 

Ravel,  261 

Reclus  (Elisee),  154,  233,  288 

Re'don  (Odillon),  282 

Red  River,  98,  99 

Reforms  of  Grevy's  ministries,  89 

Regnault,  27,  134,  243,  249 

Re'gnier,  238 

Re'gnier  (Henri  de),  273 

Reichbourg  (Emile),  235 

Reichemberg  (Madame),  238 

Reinach  (Baron  de),  144,  145,  167 

lie  jane  (Madame),  276 

Religious  Orders,  107,  166,  200,  201, 

206,  209 
Remusat,  53,  59 
Remusat  (Madame  de),  258 
llenan,  55,  136,  224,  225,  226,  234, 

242,  248,  256,  258 
Renault,  294 
Renault  (Leon),  145 
Rennes,  194 
Renoir,  281,  294 
Renouard  (Paul),  296 
Renouvier,  242 
Rentes,  4^  p.c,  154 

—  fy  p.c.  208 
Republic  of  1848,  21,  39 
Reske  (Jean  de),  261 
Reuillv  (Rue  de),  189 
Reviews  (French),  236,  275 

—  (Music  Hall),  307 
Revision,  358 

—  Scheme  of  Floquet,  123 

Revue  des  Deux   Monde*,  226,   234, 

235,  275 
Reyer,  237 
Ribot,  101,  130,  131,  144,  143,  163, 

166,  188,  201 
Ricard,  143 

Richard  (Monsieur),  126 
Richard  (Cardinal),  141 
Richelieu,  16 
Richepin  (Jean),  258,  261 
Richet.  278 
Rigault,  34,  37 


INDEX 


393 


Rights  of  Man  League,  190 

Rimbaud,  258 

Rivet  Law,  44,  45 

Riviere  (Commandant),  99,  100 

Riviere  (Henri),  282 

Robin  (Charles),  261 

Rocbe  (Jules),  145 

Roche  (Pierre),  299 

Rochefort  (Henri),  92,  128,  139,  266 

Rochefoucauld  (de  la),  53,  56 

Rochegrosse,  265 

Rod  (Edouard),  269,  270,  287 

Rodin  (Auguste),  245,  247,  248,  249, 

260,  266,  279,  282,  289,  298,  299 
Roget  (General),  189 
Roll,  265,281,  295 
Roman-feuilleton,  235 
Romantic  school,  223 
Rome,  137 
Ronsard,  258 
Rops  (Fe'licien),  297 
Rosny  (J.  H.),  256,  270,  287 
Rossel,  35,  97 
Rostand,  275 
Rouff  (Monsieur),  120 
Rouher,  54 

Rousset  (Camille),  259 
Rouvier,  89,  110,  111,  128,  131,  145, 

147,  206,  208,  214,  220,  234 
Roux,  293 
Royer-Collard,  13 
Rude,  248 

Russia,  183,  205,  209,  216 
Russian  Fleet  visits  Toulon,  151 
—  week,  170 
Russo-Japanese  War,  211 

Sacre  Coeur,  250 
Sagallo,  126 
Sahara,  210 
Saigon,  98 
Sainte-Beuve,  136 
Sainte-Chapelle,  303 
Saint-Cloud,  133 
Saint-Hilaire  (Geoffroi),  238 
Saint-Marc  de  Girardin,  53 
Saint-Marceaux,  298 
Saint-Pierre,  204 
Saint-Saens,  237,  276,  292 
Saint  Simonians,  116 
Salpetriere  Hospital,  241 
Salsou,  199 
Samain  (Albert),  273,  274,  298 


Samary  (Jeanne),  261,  298 

Samory  (King),  183 

Sand  (George),  14,  227,  285,  298 

Sauga  (Upper),  208 

Sans-Leroy,  145 

Santos  Dumont,  293 

Sarcey  (Francisque),  227,  235,  289 

Sardou   (Victorien),    133,    231,   232, 

233,  260,  275,  300,  301 
Sarrien,  220,  221 
Satory  Camp,  70 
Saussier  (General),  93 
Say  (Leon),  133,  168,  242 
Scheffer  (Ary),  242 
Scheurer-Kestner,  174 
Schnaebele  incident,  109 
Schoelcher,  51 
Scholl  (Aurelien),  234 
Scrutin   d'arrondissement,    94,    124, 

351,  352 
Scrutin  de  liste,  94,  102,  103,  124, 

352 
Se'ance  des  Gifles,  139 
Sedan,  19,  21,  63 
See  (Camille),  339 
Senate,  353 
Senators,  353,  354 
Senegal,  189 

Septennat  of  MacMahon,  84,  88 
Seurat  (Georges),  280 
Severine,  286 
Sevigne'  (Madame  de),  285 
Sfax,  93 

Shall  of  Persia,  63,  64,  130,  199 
Shakespeare,  233,  285 
Shang-Hai,  101 
Siam,  149,  173,  208 
Siege  of  Paris,  22  et  seq. 
Sierra  Leone,  163 
Signac  (Paul),  280 
Silvestre  (Armand),  257,  298 
Simon  (Jules),  21,  26,  44,  50,  51,  52, 

53,  61,  78,  79,  324 
Simon  (Lucien),  297 
Sisley  (Alfred),  266 
Socialism,  16 

Socialists'  Charter,  117,  118 
Societe"  des  Artistes  Francais,  279 
Societe   Nationale  des   Beaux   Arts, 

279,  280 
Son-Tay,  100 

Sorbonne,  130,  240,  262,  265,  302 
Sorel  (Agnes),  259 


394 


INDEX 


South  African  War,  198,  199 

Southern  Railway,  161,  166 

South  Pole,  210 

Spain,  209,  216,  218 

Spencer,  284,  368 

Spuller,  23,  234,  274 

Stael  (Madame  de),  285 

State  Banks,  174 

Statistics  of  years  '70  to  '80,  85,  86 

Steinlen,  297 

Stevenson  (Robert  Louis),  251 

Stowe  House,  158 

Sub-Prefects,  107 

Sudan,  132, 155, 164, 183, 189, 196, 199 

Suez  Canal,  112,  147 

Sully  Prudhomme,  226,  227,  257,  289 

Sultan  of  Turkey,  204 

Swinburne,  284 

Switzerland  (dispute  with),  165 

Symbolists,  258,  271,  273 

Syveton,  213,  214 

Tailhade  (Laurent),  153,  257 

Taine,  14,  136,  225,  234,  236.  242, 

255 
Talleyrand,  13 
Talma,  238 
Tamatave,  163 
Tamsui,  100 

Tananarivo,  98,  163,  164 
Tangier,  215 
Tapestry  artists,  267 
Tatin,  278 

Tchad  (Lake),  196,  212 
Terrail-Mermeix,  132 
That-Ke,  101 
Theatres,  238 
Theatre  Historique,  90 
Theuriet  (Andre),  252,  253,  286 
Thevenet  (Monsieur),  145 
Thiebaud  (Monsieur),  119,  127 
Thiers,  19,  20,  21,  26,  29,  31,  32,  35, 

37,  39  et  seq.,  61,  62,  66,  68,  72, 

73,  80,  81,  88,  96,  107,  137,  236, 

246 
Thierry  (Edouard),  238 
Thomas  (Ambroise),  236,  312 
Thomas  (Clement),  32 
Thoreux  (Captain),  150 
Tichborne  case,  194 
Tien-Tsin,  100,  101,  102 
Tillancourt,  51 
Timbuctoo,  154 


Times,  77,  78 

Tinayre  (Marcelle),  286 

Tirard,  119,  130,  187 

Tisserand,  262 

Tissot,  278 

Tocqueville,  13 

Tolstoy,  270,  284 

Tonkin,  98,  100  et  seq.,  145) 

Toussaint  (La),  309 

Traboujy,  164 

Trade  Unions,  124,  125 

Transvaal,  199 

Tribunat,  350 

Tridon,  33 

Tripone,  135 

Trocadero,  82,  170,  250 

Trochu  (General),  22,  23,  25,  29 

Troyon,  243 

Truffier,  276 

Tsinainondry,  164 

Tuaregs,  154 

Tu-Duc,  99 

Tuileries,  36,  303 

Tunis,  92,  93,  189,  215 

Turkey,  202 

Turpin,  135 

Turin  (Court  of),  174 

Tuyen-Cjuan,  101 

Two  Years'  Military  Service,  207 

Ubanghi,  155 

Union  (paper),  69,  70,  73,  234 

Union  libre,  377 

United  States,  204 

Universities  (Catholic),  330 

—  (popular),  335,  336 
University  independence,  104 

—  schools,  347,  348 

—  system,  341,  342  et  seq. 
Uzes  (Duchesse  d'),  122 

Yacherot,  263 
Vaillant,  153,  156 
Vandal  (Albert),  288 
Valbert,  234 
Valles,  35,  37 
Vandal  (Albert),  274 
Van  Gogh,  281 
Varlin,  33,  37 
Vatican,  59,  79,  209,  211 
Vauquelin,  238 
Veber,  297 
Vendee  Rebellion,  133 


INDEX 


395 


Vendome  Column,  35 

Verdun  (evacuation  of),  64 

Verlaine,  257,  258,  261,  289 

Verlet,  282 

Vermorel,  33 

Verne  (Jules),  256 

Vernet  (Horace),  242 

Verrier  (Le),  239 

Versailles,  28,  34,  36,  37,  49,  52,  64, 

70,  133,  157,  188 
Veto,  351 

Veuillot  (Louis),  234 
Victoria  (Queen),  77,  136,  173,  200, 

249 
Viele-Griffin,  272,  273 
Vierge  (Daniel),  297 
Villiers  de  Tlsle  Adam,  312 
Villerupt,  47 
Villon,  272 

Vincendon  (General),  193 
Viollet  le  Due,  233 
Vitu  (Auguste),  234 
Vogue  (Melchior  de),  259 
Voltaire,  302 

Voulet  (Captain),  196,  197 
Voyron  (General),  163 
Vries  (de),  278 

Wadai,  1 

Waddington  (Monsieur),  49, 89, 90, 91 
Wagner,  136,  237,  285 
Waldeck    Rousseau,  125,  162,   193, 
206 


Wales,  (Prince  of),  245 

Wallace,  (Sir  Richard),  26 

Walt  Whitman,  273 

War  Budget,  362 

War  of  1870,  19  et  seq. 

AVashburn  (Mr.),  28,  73 

Wells  (novelist),  284 

Westphalia  (King  of),  136 

Whistler,  297 

Wilhelm  II.,  215,  218 

William  (Emperor),  77,  133 

Willy,  287 

Wilson  scandal,  113,  116,  118 

Women's  Property  Act,  168 

—  Rights,  378,  379 

Workman  of  Paris,  313 

Workmen  (National  Council  of),  151 

Workmen's  Wednesday,  135 

Wright  (Wilbur),  292 

Wurtz,  261 

X  rays,  277 

Yang-tse-kiang,  98,  101 
Yon  (Edmond),  24."> 
Younger  poets,  289 

Zanzibar,  132 

Ze'vort,  274 

Zola,  176,  177,   178,  179,  181,  183, 

192,  200,  212,  229,  230,  251,  252, 

255,  269,  276,  286,  304 
Zulus,  91 
Zurlinden  (General),  181 


WILLIAM    BRENDON   AND   SON,    LTD.,    PRINTERS,    PLYMOUTH 


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